Radio show in action at the Red FM Studios. | Photo courtesy of Naina Grewal

You may not know the face but you may recognize the voice. As host of Red 93.1FM’s Sunday radio program, Sade Bache SadaVirsa, Kanwalnain (Naina) Grewal says people have started noticing her in the past couple of years – even while she’s shopping for a brand of ketchup with her mother at the grocery store. This year’s recipient of the Shakti Society Award for Academic Excellence, Grewal juggles school, broadcasting and contributing to her community. 

Grewal says that although the radio program is in both English and Punjabi, everyone is welcome to call in, interact with her and try to answer trivia-like questions.

“It’s not school. It’s supposed to [be]a fun thing. We want people to learn without even realizing it,” says Grewal, 21, who is working on a double major in communications and business at Simon Fraser University.

The voices of youth

Grewal, who moved to Vancouver in 2002 from Punjab, India, has stayed in touched with her cultural roots with activities such as Indian song, dance and acting. Grewal, a Surrey resident, explains the founder of the dance academy she attended saw potential and suggested she take on the opportunity to host a youth radio program.

“I was 12 at the time–it was all very new to me,” says Grewal.

Sade Bache Sade Virsa means our children/our youth and our future. Grewal says the idea is that our culture and future reside in the hands of our youth. The youth embody our values: the good and the bad.

At first, Grewal would plan for hours and write down word for word what she was going to say. Her audience, before going ‘live,’ were her parents who would offer feedback, such as tone and delivery.

“Now the show is more of a conversation. It’s much more interactive. In the first few months of the show, I would have to encourage friends and family to listen to the show and call in…there wasn’t a radio show for children [hosted by a young adult]…and young people can be shy to call in,” says Grewal.

Grewal also received positive feedback from parents who say their children are now more interested in Punjabi poetry, short stories and generally have a stronger grasp of the Punjabi language.

She credits her own parents for insisting she and her younger brother speak Punjabi at home.

“My father would tell us, ‘If your generation doesn’t speak and practise Punjabi, the generation after you, won’t know it.’ Learning a new language really opens up one’s mind to new experiences,” says Grewal, who has written a challenge exam
in Punjabi.

Shakti awards

Naina Grewal received the Shakti Award for Academic Achievement presented by Shakti Society in March 2016. | Photo courtesy of Naina Grewal

Shakti Society, a non-profit society made up of volunteers, was formed a few years ago. The awards, says Sonia Andhi, founder and executive director of Shakti Society, were first started in 2000 as a grass-roots effort to honour women of all backgrounds in our community. The awards coincide with International Women’s Day, celebrating the ‘everyday women’, not necessarily the big names in businesses or corporations but the women who are at home and keeping their families together while doing meaningful work.

The society’s goals include raising funds to help cover logistical costs of running the Shakti Awards and also to help with other events such as café dialogues about violence against women.

“We are looking at other needs of the community as well. We are getting some international exposure, having been contacted by a UN-based organization that inquire about the type of work the Shakti Society is interested in,” says Andhi.

Grewal was both surprised and pleased when she found out she won the Shakti Award for Academic Excellence.

“It was very humbling standing beside these people who have done amazing work,” says Grewal, who adds Shakti means ‘power.’

For more information, email Sonia Andhi: shaktisociety2000@gmail.com