[ Indu Chukhu ]
Techi Kokololo, one of the first persons to introduce podcast in Arunachal Pradesh with her podcast channel ‘Small Talk with Koko’, started her channel as a humble initiative, and now her channel has more than 4000 subscribers on YouTube.
Her audio podcast started in 2019 and used to be uploaded to Spotify. She recorded and edited it from her home, using her smartphone. Her video podcast began in 2023.
“Initially, I didn’t plan to start a podcast, but I always wanted to be a radio jockey and I grew up listening to Hello Itanagar – Radio Ooo Lala, based in Itanagar,” she said.
Techi was also shortlisted for Big FM Itanagar as an RJ earlier.
Techi earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from VTU, Belgaum, Karnataka. Like other typical Arunachali parents, she was asked to do civil engineering by her family, despite her desire to study literature.
In her video podcast, Techi has a segment called ‘Tribal Meter’, where the guest has to translate Bollywood dialogues, idioms or nursery rhymes to one’s own language/dialect.
Speaking on that idea, she said: “I listened to many podcasters, both Indian and oversees. They have a lot of talking there; so I started to do something new, and moreover, this concept of translating in one’s own language came from a friend’s gathering where we played a game, ‘Johny, Johny, yes Papa’, and we were asked to translate in our own dialect and I thought, I should include this in my podcast.”
“It was something new for all the guests who participated in Tribal Meter segment,” she said.
On online trolling, Techi said it depends from person to person, “but yes, my close ones call me up and inform me about their disappointment on the trolling comments on my feed at times, but for me I don’t visit the comments sections and just focus on the work I do.”
On the need to maintain consistency in a podcast, Techi said that one needs consistency to build up an audience, but it’s difficult to maintain consistency since the norm of a podcast is usually impromptu and generally it has no ideal script or some planned questions to ask the guest, and it’s difficult to get like-minded guests to invite.
“Moreover, in a small state like Arunachal Pradesh, one needs to be mindful of the public sentiment, as well, and oftentimes the guest gets swayed away in a podcast because of its not-so-serious mode of putting up questions, mostly candid, and they end up making some controversial remarks or statements, which the editor later has to re-edit,” she said.
“But I believe consistency should be maintained; then only the audience will build up,” she said.
She said that podcasts worldwide have a good reach in terms of audience/viewers, because they are spontaneous in nature and are trending nowadays.
“But it’s quite a challenge here in Arunachal,” she said.
Recalling her first podcast with actor Paalin Kabak, Techi said that she considers that podcast with Kabak one of her best segments.
She also recalled the educational podcast that she did with Jumtum Minga from the APSCPCR on the POCSO/child abuse. “I was very emotional and moved as I dived deep into the podcast. That podcast revealed many things about certain cases that made me numb,” she said.
“This is a golden period for influencers and I feel good that the government and private sectors are recognising the potential of influencers and giving them a space for promotion,” Techi said.
When asked if people in the state have any idea about what a podcast is all about, she said: “I think people have less knowledge about the concept and idea of a podcast. There are some comments in the comment box saying ‘Oh she doesn’t know how to sit, so informal, mannerless,’ etc, but people don’t know that a podcast has to be raw and unfiltered. The concept of podcast is new here; people are learning and knowing about it slowly.”
After collaborating with private studios, she finally has a studio of her own at the Yupia road, near the ITBP camp.
She also now has a three-member team for Small Talk with Koko.
