India Post News Service

CAMPBELL: It's Different, the Stanford KZSU 90.1 FM weekly Indian radio show, celebrated the broadcast of its 100th show with Sangamam, a cultural afternoon on May 6 at the Campbell Community Center, Campbell, CA. The It's Different- News, Views and Music show is produced by Sri who also hosts it aided by volunteer co-hosts.

The community center hall was packed to capacity with families with children who turned out to show their support. The chief guest was Councilmember Anu Natarajan, Fremont City Council. She said that she has been associated with the show since she was interviewed on it. She did a David Letterman style 'Top Ten Reasons Why We're Here This Afternoon'- The Number 1 reason why we're here is because 'It's Different'.

The afternoon had classical and variety sections along with a quiz and a meet your co-hosts segment. The classical included vocal (Carnatic and Hindustani), instrumental (Hindustani) and dance (Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam) while the variety section included a fashion show (by Nalli), comedy, Bollywood style dance, stick dance (Jeena kids), etc. The stick dance was performed by kids from Jeena kids.

Jeena is a non-profit dedicated to children with developmental disorders. Rajani Madan, founder, said "we want you to accept our children, to support our children". Part of the afternoon's proceeds will go to Jeena and other organizations. Sri, the host of the radio show, said, "It's a great opportunity that Stanford has provided to enable me to reach out to the community. I have a passion for music but the program is a medium not only for music but also to provide information and to help connect people together".

He said that he has no commercial interest in or benefit from the show; he only pursues it as a hobby. This hobby has sure proved successful in connecting a lot of strangers and letting It's different hit a home stretch with 100 shows and counting.