Broadcasting on a 12-volt battery from his room in Reotipur, this school student has been meeting the information and entertainment needs of the three villages of Tilwa, Gopalpur and Pakri here for about two years now.

Each morning, he sits before his improvised short-wave transmitter and begins with the news bulletin, taking care to include the local news while compiling it. After that, it is time for some film music. On Sundays, there is a special programme — the complete audio of a Bollywood hit.

It was AIR’s Vividhbharti service that gave Arun the idea of starting his own radio station. He scoured the physics books of his elder brother, Amresh, who was then in Class XII. “I may have studies physics theoretically, but Arun successfully applied the theory,” says Amresh.

“I borrowed used transistors, transmitter circuit, capacitors, trimmers and chokes from TV and radio mechanics,” says Arun. He succeeded in putting together a radio transmitter with which he “transmitted songs and news in a radius of 200 metres on the SW band”.

However, his father Mahendra Rai was not convinced about Arun’s talent. He dismantled the transmitter, but Arun did not give up. With some help from Amresh and his sister, Priyanka, who gave him their pocket money, he kept working on the radio station.

“While everyone slept, I worked on improving and upgrading the radio station. One fine day in 2005, I started relaying songs and news within a radius of three kilometres,” recalls Arun. Since then, Radio Reotipur has been broadcasting daily for about six hours.

And Arun, who passed Class XII from Nehru Vidyapith Inter College (Reotipur) last year, has made it his full-time occupation.

“Right from childhood, Arun has been experimenting with technology. He made a mini-helicopter, but did not try to fly it as he was afraid of his father’s reaction. His father thought he was wasting his time and effort. But this did not stop Arun from fulfilling his dream of giving the people of Reotipur their own radio station,” says Arun’s mother, Puspha Rai.

For the locals, Arun is a hero. “His radio is on air when all others are silent. And he alone gives us local news every morning,” says Bhagelu, a farm worker.

Arun now wants to increase the range of his radio station to 15 km, but does not have the necessary funds. Since Radio Reotipur does not generate any income, both Arun and his brother are looking for jobs. At present, the family’s only source of income is their father’s earnings as a private tutor.

Arun also knows that he has to get a licence for runnng the radio station. “My father is afraid that I’m committing an illegal act,” he says.