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{{Short description|Indian community radio and podcast}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2021}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[The Radio Quarantine]], the internet community radio based in Bangalore.}}{{Infobox radio station
| country = IN
| name = Radio Quarantine
| logo = RQK Poster.png
| city = {{plainlist|1=
*[[Kolkata]]
}}
| area = International
| language = {{plainlist|1=
*[[Bengali language|Bengali]]
*[[Hindi]]
*[[English language|English]]
}}
| format = [[Community radio]]
| airdate = {{Start date|2020|03|25}}
| webcast = {{URL|https://zeno.fm/radio-quarantine-kolkata/|ZenoFM}}
| website = {{URL|https://radioquarantinekol.wixsite.com/rqkradio|Website}}
}}

'''Radio Quarantine''' or '''Radio Quarantine Kolkata''' (abbreviated as '''RQK''') is an Indian [[Internet radio|internet-based]] [[community radio]] and [[podcast]]. It was founded on 25 March 2020 by a group of professors, directors and PhD students in response to social isolation protocols imposed as a result of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].

== History ==
Radio Quarantine was launched on 25 March 2020 in the city of [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=I. S.|first=|date=17 April 2020|title=The coronavirus is bringing about a boom in new radio stations|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|url=https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/04/17/the-coronavirus-is-bringing-about-a-boom-in-new-radio-stations|url-status=live|access-date=4 January 2021|issn=0013-0613|archive-date=8 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108015130/https://www.economist.com/prospero/2020/04/17/the-coronavirus-is-bringing-about-a-boom-in-new-radio-stations}}</ref> It was founded by a group of professors, directors and PhD students in response to social isolation protocols following the outbreak of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in India.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Mukherjee|first=Senjuti|date=1 January 2021|title=Echoes of Resistance: How Radio Quarantine builds solidarity in difficult times|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/media/radio-quarantine-solidarity-difficult-times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101094213/https://caravanmagazine.in/media/radio-quarantine-solidarity-difficult-times|archive-date=1 January 2021|access-date=4 January 2021|website=[[The Caravan]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The group was formed after the [[Government of West Bengal]] had announced that a lockdown in the state was to be imposed, and its launch coincided with the sudden [[COVID-19 lockdown in India|imposition of the national lockdown]] by Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Bhattacharya|first=Ravik|date=26 March 2020|title=Radio Quarantine an antidote for anxieties in time of isolation|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/coronavirus-india-lockdown-radio-quarantine-an-antidote-for-anxieties-in-time-of-isolation-6331982/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808002755/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/coronavirus-india-lockdown-radio-quarantine-an-antidote-for-anxieties-in-time-of-isolation-6331982/|archive-date=8 August 2020|access-date=4 January 2021|website=[[The Indian Express]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Akhtar|first=Shabina|date=4 April 2020|title=Radio Quarantine Kolkata: Web-based radio station brings joy to people during lockdown|url=https://enewsroom.in/quarantine-radio-kolkata-lockdown-covid-19/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023105339/https://enewsroom.in/quarantine-radio-kolkata-lockdown-covid-19/|archive-date=23 October 2020|access-date=4 January 2021|website=eNewsroom India|language=en-US}}</ref> which had been ordered a day before on 24 March.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gettleman|first1=Jeffrey|last2=Schultz|first2=Kai|date=24 March 2020|title=Modi Orders 3-Week Total Lockdown for All 1.3 Billion Indians|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/world/asia/india-coronavirus-lockdown.html|url-status=live|access-date=4 January 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=7 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507152553/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/world/asia/india-coronavirus-lockdown.html}}</ref> The station began operation as a community radio run from studio setups at homes, with 10 administrators for technical and editorial oversight.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" />

The broadcasts were hosted on the free-of-cost radio streaming platform [[ZenoRadio]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Chanda|first1=Kathakali|last2=Shekhar|first2=Divya J.|date=26 April 2020|title=In Times Of Social Distancing, Forming Communities|url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/coronavirus/in-times-of-social-distancing-forming-communities/59025/1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202123643/https://www.forbesindia.com/article/coronavirus/in-times-of-social-distancing-forming-communities/59025/1|archive-date=2 December 2020|access-date=4 January 2021|website=[[Forbes]]|language=en}}</ref> and went live at 4 pm on 25 March. The inaugural programme on the station was a 30-minute reading session by Sujaan Mukherjee, a researcher on the [[urban history]] of Kolkata at [[Jadavpur University]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Mitra|first=Debraj|date=24 March 2020|title=Solidarity comes alive on radio wave in Calcutta|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/solidarity-comes-alive-on-radio-wave-in-calcutta/cid/1758883|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612155000/https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/solidarity-comes-alive-on-radio-wave-in-calcutta/cid/1758883|archive-date=12 June 2021|access-date=4 January 2021|website=[[Telegraph India|The Telegraph]]}}</ref> The station began as a [[24/7 service]] with a mixture of pre-recorded original programmes and repeat programmes at other times, gathering around 5,000 listeners within the first nine days of its launch.<ref name=":0" />

On [[May Day]], Radio Quarantine held a collaboration with the [[Udichi Shilpi Goshti]], the largest cultural organisation in [[Bangladesh]]; the station hosted a show featuring revolutionary songs and commemorated the [[1886 Haymarket massacre]] by [[chronicling]] its history. It featured a show with a series of interviews on women workers from West Bengal and Bangladesh; the first half included interviews with [[domestic workers]] from West Bengal who described their loss of livelihood due to lack of regulations or a [[labour union]] to represent them in midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the second half of the show featured an interview with [[Taslima Akhter]], the president of a Bangladeshi solidarity group for [[garment workers]], who spoke about their exploitation and how the pandemic had made the situation worse by forcing workers to either starve or risk infection. Kasturi Basu, one of the administrators, states that the idea for collaborating with Bangladeshi individuals on May Day had come about during their planning of shows for the birth anniversary of [[Rabindranath Tagore]] on 7 May 2020. On Tagore's birth anniversary, the station aired a show called ''Bangladesher Hriday Hote'' ({{Translation|From the Heart of Bangladesh}}) that featured interviews with individuals like the novelist [[Hasan Azizul Huq|Azizul Huq]], biographer [[Jatin Sarkar]], sociologist [[Anupam Sen]] and Moinul Abedin, the son of [[Zainul Abedin]] who had chronicled the [[1943 Bengal famine]] through his paintings.<ref name=":1" />

On 19 May 2020, the station hosted programmes narrating and discussing the [[Bengali Language Movement (Barak Valley)|Bengali Language Movement]] in the [[Barak Valley]] of [[Assam]]. The station also organised a memorial on 20 May 2020 to commemorate the death of Bengali journalist and freedom fighter [[Kamal Lohani]], who was the founder of the [[Free Bengal Radio Station]] and had died of [[COVID-19]]. It stopped airing shows for a few weeks following the landfall of [[Cyclone Amphan]] and resumed streaming after electricity and connectivity were restored in Kolkata.<ref name=":1" />

The radio station had produced over 350 episodes by the end of August and gathered an international audience. The relaxation of the lockdown led to less original programming being broadcast by the station, and by September, it had begun producing original programming in the form of [[podcasts]] with six to ten episodes per month.<ref name=":1" />

== Format and shows ==
Radio Quarantine Kolkata is a 24x7 live internet radio hosted on ZenoFM and broadcasts a wide range of music from its collection. The radio broadcasts segments with interviews and news bulletins.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Upasana |date=20 August 2021 |title=From English pop to Japanese psychedelic, we have created a list of radio stations to cater to all your music moods while travelling |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/explore/story/71169/radio-stations-to-listen-to-on-the-road |website=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook Traveller]]}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=8 June 2021 |title=Radio Quarantine: How This Digital Radio Station Brought Joy During The Lockdown |url=https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/radio-quarantine-how-this-digital-radio-station-brought-joy-during-the-lockdown |website=Homegrown |language=en}}</ref> The target audience consists of Bengalis including its international diaspora, attracting listeners from places like [[London]] and the [[United States]].<ref name=":8" />

During the pandemic, the station ran various programs and episodes throughout the day, featuring original programmes between 5{{nbsp}}pm and 2{{nbsp}}am.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Neurekar |first=Malavika |date=7 April 2020 |title=Radio Quarantine: Indian artists are trying to create a space for music and community in lockdown |url=https://scroll.in/article/957996/radio-quarantine-indian-artists-are-trying-to-create-a-space-for-music-and-community-in-lockdown |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107005132/https://scroll.in/article/957996/radio-quarantine-indian-artists-are-trying-to-create-a-space-for-music-and-community-in-lockdown |archive-date=7 January 2021 |access-date=4 January 2021 |website=[[Scroll.in]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Its daily shows ended with a music segment hosted by the writer [[Sudipto Sanyal]] called ''Songs of Comfort for Hypochondriac and Pining Lovers'', which featured an [[Eclecticism|eclectic collection]] of Indian and International songs and continued till 2{{nbsp}}am at night.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> Sanyal, who goes by the pseudonym RJ Bishakto Chochchori, continues to host the music segment every Saturday from around midnight onwards.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Chandrima S. |date=22 November 2021 |title=A mishmash of music to comfort at midnight |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/people/a-mishmash-of-music-to-comfort-at-midnight/cid/1840027 |website=[[Telegraph India|The Telegraph]]}}</ref> The segment includes and has included music from [[Brazilian rock]], [[Venezuelan folk music|Venezuelan folk]], Bollywood songs, Palestinian [[reggae]], [[Japanese pop]], Habibi [[funk]], Vietnamese hip hop and American [[jazz]] and [[hip hop]], among others.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":9" /> The show has a focus on a variety of music from Brazil, and Sanyal describes it as a place for "football, jazz, music and resistance".<ref name=":9" />

One of the popular segments of the station was ''Quarantine Diaries'', which featured a daily news summary and included analysis of the controversial [[Citizenship Amendment Act]] and the associated [[National Register of Citizens]] amid the pandemic.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> Darshana Mitra, a professor at the [[National Institute of Juridicial Science]], is associated with the segment.<ref name=":6" /> The singer and oral historian [[Moushumi Bhowmik]] hosted a segment which documented regional and cultural histories across Bengal, including those from [[Purulia]] to [[Sylhet]] to the [[Sundarbans]], and occasionally featured interviews with various folk singers. [[Kankan Bhattacharyya]] hosted a show called ''Asamayer Katha, Samayer Gaan'' ({{Translation|Untimely Talk, Timely Songs}}).<ref name=":1" /> It also included shows related to health advice which featured medical professionals.<ref name=":3" />

The station also broadcast reading sessions through home recordings from participants, including monologues, poetry and short story readings, and had a children's segment.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":8" /> Recorded performances were crowdsourced from listener contributors,<ref name=":2" /> which were accepted based on a day's specified criterion and included experiences of individuals isolated in their homes.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=25 March 2020 |title=Web-based radio station set up for locked down people |work=[[Business Standard]] |agency=[[Press Trust of India]] |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/web-based-radio-station-set-up-for-locked-down-people-120032500976_1.html |url-status=live |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106170743/https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/web-based-radio-station-set-up-for-locked-down-people-120032500976_1.html |archive-date=6 January 2021}}</ref> Some of these were gathered from minors and were aired on the children's segment.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> The children's segment was allotted an hour slot,<ref name=":7" /> which was occasionally hosted by a teacher based in the country of [[Norway]].<ref name=":0" /> It involved short story readings, poem recitals and music.<ref name=":7" />

Around September 2020, new original programmes were shifted to a podcast featuring six to ten episodes per month. The episodes include [[Pedagogy|educational content]] related to science and technology in simplified language for the understanding of untrained adults and children. Other episodes relate to political, social and philosophical questions, including episodes on ''[[The Plague (novel)|The Plague]]'' by [[Albert Camus]], on ''Plague and Quarantine'' by [[Rajinder Singh Bedi]] and on ''Shada Prithibi'' ({{Translation|White Earth}}) by [[Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay]].<ref name=":1" />

The original programmes from the radio and the podcast are hosted on and archived across platforms such as [[YouTube]] and [[Spotify]].<ref name=":1" />

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|custom=RadioQuarantineKolkata|title=Radio Quarantine Kolkata}}
* {{Facebook|RadioQuarantineKolkata|Radio Quarantine Kolkata}}
{{coord missing|West Bengal}}

[[Category:Educational podcasts]]
[[Category:Radio stations in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 2020]]
[[Category:2020 podcast debuts]]
[[Category:Indian podcasts]]

Radio Quarantine Kolkata - Revision history

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