Readomania Talk Fest- With RJ Nitin

Readomania's talk fests are one its kind and sadly I have missed attending them all this while. I attended the 5th Talk Fest which was a crowd puller because of the speaker RJ Khurafati Nitin. The stage was set at India Habitat Center, Lodhi Road for Sunday, 28th Aug '16.

The interactive show intended to bring his inspiring struggle story to the public along with exciting gifts and giveaways. For me, the best giveaway were the rich learning lessons. Nitin who is a well known entertainer and is the most awarded Radio Jockey held the crowd with his great sense of humor amid the story of highs and lows of his life.

For those who did not know, Nitin's full name is Jonathan Philip Nitin Brady. Born to a lovely couple who came from different castes, Nitin himself is married to Sunita, a girl outside his religion. His words "Mere ghar mei poora Bhaarat basta hai" hence stands true to the core.

He began his career with All India Radio around 15 years ago. Gradually his career picked up when Radio as a medium started to became popular. Amid the golden period of success and fame he enjoyed, Nitin faced a sudden downfall in his career when he was left with no job and was financially broke. He bravely faced the tough depressing phase of life and decided to move on with something, if not radio. He started selling samosa and chole bhature from a little eating stall in Gurgaon. The difficult time continued for quite some time. The best part was the thorough support of his family with a special mention of his younger brother Raul who quit his job to support Nitin.

The RJ shared a touching video of Derek Redmond who injured his leg hamstring few meters before the finish line. Determined to finish the race, Redmond got up with the seething pain and limped on the track.  A man breaking security barriers came to Redmond to offer him his shoulder. It was his father who said "We will finish the race together". Father sun duo hand in hand walked the track with a limping and wailing Redmond, refusing to give up. His father let him walk the last few meters on his own, amid a crowd of 65,000 people cheering for both.

The purpose of sharing the video was to show two things; One, to never give up, Two, no matter what happens, your family will always support you. With such a valuable lesson and emotional visual, my eyes turned moist and throat choked. I am sure many felt the same.

Quoting his own example, he takes pride in telling how his family has been an anchor and built a strong support system for him.

To lighten the seriousness, Nitin played humorous prank call recordings in between. As he continued narrating his life journey, he shared his insights about a backup plan. Soon after his mother questioned and planted an idea of back up plan in life, Nitin with his brother Raul ventured into production house. He played one of the short films he has made which intends to create awareness on a deadly drugs named SMILES.

After Fever 104 FM hired him, Nitin convinced the management to start a show with his philanthropic philosophy. He has managed to spread the message to Delhi and successfully raised funds for acid attack victims facial surgery, AIDS patients and getting those people released from jail who couldn't afford bail. The stories behind the project again left my eyes welled up.

A big salute to this man with a heart of gold who touched and changed so many lives. He took a huge risk with this show which had many eyebrows raised. Nitin went by the philosophy that even if he fails to raise money for the needy, he wants to do something good. He wants to live in the hearts of people who would remember him as a good person after he dies. From pleading people for making way for ambulance to stay away from drugs, Nitin uses radio as the best CSR medium.

Very few celebs have such generous hearts. Nitin proved himself not only a good RJ but an excellent human being too. Such motivational talks strike so many chords within you.

The house was open for Q/A and he kept tossing gifts to the audience. As Nitin ended his energetic talk after an hour (where he spoke non stop), the crowd flocked to him for pictures. Husband and I took one too. The picture is hazy but the memories are crystal clear :-)