Revathi Pillay from SouthSide FM hopes to make a difference in the lives of youth through encouragement and motivation.
Pillay hosts ‘Youth Unplugged’ every Saturday. Her show is centred around making a difference in a child’s life and educating them how to be the best version of themselves.
Her young listeners refer to her as “Vaathi” which means teacher in Tamil.
Even though she is an IT Business Analyst by profession, radio is her passion and she became a presenter on SouthSide FM in 2022.
“I sat with HR and all I said was ‘please allow me this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the youth in our communities’.
“I knew I wanted to make a difference, but I needed to now understand the concerns, so I went about investigating each area and understood that youngsters in various communities deal with different challenges and disadvantages. With continuous feedback from the youth in the community, I am able to create topics of discussion on the show and ensure it is always relevant.”
Pillay said she was passionate about working with the different communities.
“I believe children are blank canvases, and we as adults need to encourage them. I get satisfied by knowing I have made a difference in at least one child’s life every time I interact with youngsters.”
She hosts a variety of outreach segments for the youth, which helps motivate them.
“I host a segment on the show called “Youth of the Week” where I interview a group of youngsters from public schools and give them the platform to talk about the challenges in their communities and schools.
“I have another segment called “Make a Birthday Wish”, where listeners can nominate a child who has been going through some challenges to have their picture birthday cake sponsored and we have the party on air.”
Pillay said this motivates the youth by giving them a voice. She also does motivational talks at schools and runs a sanitary pad drive with “Warriors with a Purpose”.
She hopes to inspire others to help where they can, just how she was inspired by her family.
“My father is the most kind and selfless human being I have ever met and he has instilled his teachings in me. He has always told me that we never take material things to our grave but instead, we take the name and character we build in society.
“Helping someone does not require you to have a platform like myself. It does not mean you need to belong to an organisation or company, you can help someone by just smiling and asking them if they are okay.”
Her advice to the youth is to try to make a change in society.
“The youth have the power in their hands to make a difference and I want them to know that their current situation is not their end journey, their journey has just started and they have so much to look forward to,” said Pillay.