“JAMMU DI KUDDI”

Shwetima Jamwal

If you are a Radio Person and your morning kick-starts with the beats on the radio, We The Women, has brought to you about the journey of the sweet, charming voice that would make you get up and get going without adding caffeine to your system. So let’s know about RJ Shwetima Jamwal who introduces herself to listeners as ‘Jammu Di Kuddi’.
Mirchi, a national radio channel when launched in Jammu September this year, the first voice people heard on the channel, was that of Shwetima. She owns a voice that would make you want to befriend her instantly. She has the capability to serve positivity and enthusiasm just with her way of delivering speech. Don’t believe me? Listen to her whenever you get a chance. Her outlook on life makes you wonder about how her journey has been and what all she must have experienced and learnt to be what she is and be where she is, today.
Shwetima was born to Kiran Balla and Upkar Singh. Her mother was the principal of the school she studied in right from the beginning till 10th standard. “I confess that since my mother was the Principal, I was more at ease and confident, hence participated in almost every event. But that had its downside too; all the events I used to sweep the prizes and awards, even my score in examination was seen skeptically, whereas I used to take it as personal responsibility to bring laurels to my school and my mother,” shares Shwetima.
She further adds, “Things changed when I scored well in the board examination. Then, I changed my school after matriculating and it turned out great because I wasn’t only scoring well but was Cultural Coordinator there and was awarded ‘All Rounder Student’ for two consecutive years.”
Shwetima received commendation certificate by Government of J&K for outstanding achievement in Academics after her 10th standard. Her father wanted an Engineer in the family so despite her interest in Arts, she picked Sciences after matriculating and still scored tremendously in 12th standard.
Bachelors in Technology was her next step and LPU, a famed private college of North India was the pick. During her college days, Shwetima initially tried to focus on her studies and not indulge in any extra-curricular activity. But it turned out harder than she thought. When she got to know that the cultural diversity of our state wasn’t being well represented by the college’s cultural team, she stepped in and the results were great, bringing her in eyes of everyone in the university and even outside the Varsity premises.
After that, she has also headed Anti Ragging Committee of the Varsity, organized Kathak Workshop by Guru Satish Shukla Ji and Guru Harish Ji at various occasions and hosted and organized various events like One India- One World, Talent Hunt, Inter-Hostel Competitions, etc covering different fields like Music, Dance, Theatre and Literary and so on.
Meanwhile, she also participated in 15th Global Female Folk Dance Competition, Shimla in 2012; represented India in AIU 6th South Asian Universities Youth Festival (SAUFEST) in 2013; and represented Punjab in Open National Youth Festival in Classical Dance Category (Kathak) at Punjab Agriculture University in 2014.
Such extensive participation means more awards in her kity. To pick few she has bagged, Best Camper award, AIU Youth Leadership Camp, Dalhousie, HP, 2011; Rank 1 in Folk Orchestra and Rank 3 in Classical Dance at 27th AIU National Youth Festival, RTM Nagpur University, Maharashtra, 2012; Rank 1 in Folk Orchestra and Rank 1 in Classical Dance at 28th AIU National Youth Festival, Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab, 2012; Rank 1 in Classical Dance at 29th AIU North Zone Youth Festival, Dr. B R Ambedkar University, UP, 2013; Rank 4 in Classical Dance at 29th AIU National Youth Festival, Kurukshetra University, Haryana, 2014.
For Shwetima, it wasn’t just about her passion; she is a strong believer of a backup plan and for her, career in engineering had a tough fight in becoming her main or backup plan. Whatever it was, she knew that she cannot compromise with her degree at any cost. So not only did she strive to score well but also attempted to bling her CV with several conferences and seminars. Most prominent of them were, International Conference on Mathematics and Engineering Sciences, World Conference of AIAER on Professional Development and India Today Youth Summit 2015, Siri Fort, New Delhi. She also attained certificates in Soft Skills.
On being asked how she fits herself in every other field, Shwetima elaborates, “I say yes to everything; even when I have no clue how to execute it, I have a belief that I would figure it out eventually. I always look forward to learn. I remember, when I was a little kid I helped my father fix a wall. When I told him that it is mason’s job, my father taught me that one should try to learn everything in order to be self-reliant and that’s what I keep in mind even today.”
During this time, Shwetima got an offer to host a television program in Punjabi and in spite of not knowing the language, she dived in and hosted over 10 episodes for Punjabi Musical show “Jhumka”, telecasted on DD Punjabi, Punjab in 2012-2013. She rocked it so much that she got an offer to manage and run a community radio in Canada.
She had to turn it down because her loved ones weren’t comfortable with her going far away from them and we are glad she didn’t move away. After finishing her B.Tech in Computer Science in the year 2012, Shwetima went on to finish her M.Tech on pursuance of her father.
“I got scholarship for M.Tech, which meant my entire degree, accommodation and even books were paid for. So, it was hard to turn down. After all I didn’t have much to lose as I was doing everything I wanted to,” expresses Shwetima.
The girl got a little drifted from her passion after getting placed right out of the campus in a well reputed MNC. And from 2014 to 2016 Shwetima worked in different capacities and her skill and confidence was working in her favor all this while.
Here we cannot miss to mention that like a true-blue Jammu girl, this girl too decides with her heart, prioritising her family over her career, over herself. And there she was, back to her hometown, working in school with her mom. What happened? Shwetima wanted to help her mom get through the tough phase after losing her grandparents and nothing was more important to her than the well-being and happiness of her parents.
Before becoming the morning voice of Radio Mirchi Jammu, Shwetima’s other endeavors include taking sessions on Personality Development, classes for English Grammar Sessions and Dance Classes during summer break. So how did she land in the Radio Mirchi?
Well, Shwetima auditioned for a post on desk for the institution. “It used to be normal as long as I used to be busy teaching in my mother’s school, but as soon as the vacations commenced I used to get restless, that is why I decided to look for a job and on discussing it with one of my friends who is also an RJ, I thought for applying for the desk job when Mirchi announced their launch in jammu,” says Shwetima.
But a challenge made her participate in the audition for RJ as well, and to her surprise she got through. After some mentoring, this girl was ready to do the honors of being the first voice of Radio Mirchi, Jammu.
Talking about it she still gets jittery.
“I was not expecting it to happen. I can still feel the pressure and excitement, remembering it. It has been one of the most surreal experiences of my life so far,” she expresses, adding, “Today, I do not care much about critics, I only aim to learn but when my father comments, I take it very seriously; I think that is natural.”
I bet after reading about her, most of the girls out there must relate. We all had to turn down few opportunities because of the apprehensions of our loved ones but like this ‘Jammu Di Kuddi’ we bet you would find a way to follow your heart without breaking hearts of your loved ones too.
Shwetima’s word to women out there is, “Women have various roles in life and each role come with its own set of responsibilities which mould her in different ways, I would only suggest each women to make sure that your core, your soul and spirit remains intact; that they do not let go of their vitality, their passion and dreams in order to fit in. Even when things aren’t favorable and people who matter the most stand in your way to achieve that, find a way out. It is not impossible to win them and make them understand you and be on your side.”