Source: Courtesy

Charismatic and lively are the words that come to mind when one thinks of the Station In- Charge of Radio Shadhin and actress Sriya Sharbojoya. With a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Economics from Smith College in the USA, Sriya returned to her home country to do something fresh and different that would help influence the society for the better.
She started working behind the scenes at the Asiatic 360 group doing production related work, after which she moved on to advertising. During this time she was also working as an RJ for the ABC Radio. “I have always loved performing during my school days and college days,” says Sriya, “Most of them were stage performances, but when I came back, I didn't have the interest or the confidence to perform in front of the camera, so I thought one interesting and exciting space would be the radio because you are performing with your voice which I found challenging. It's a creative outlet where I create a world without people seeing me.”
Soon, during this stint, she met her future husband, Mir Rabby, with whom she started a new project- Radio Shadhin, a sister concern of Asiatic. “We thought that there is scope for something different in the radio scene, for example, our philosophy is to encourage people to think outside the box. The radio itself can be a brand that stands for something. We encourage people to look at life differently, push the boundaries,” she says. “We want to rid the impression that a youthful radio station is all about fun and games, we want to talk about serious issues as well.  For example a youngster can talk about womens' issues like breast cancer in a direct way,” she tells us.
Aside from her career in Radio Shadhin, Sriya has taken up various acting stints, “I first started acting in school productions and was involved in the drama club,” says Sriya, “I also did a few stage performances in college, and my group theatre experience began after that, but my first TV appearance happened about two or three years ago when I acted in a natok that my mother, Sarah Zaker had written for Desh TV, called Oshomo,” she continues.
After this stint, she appeared in a natok under the direction of Ratan Pal. An interactive cooking show came next followed by a two year gap during which she strived to achieve the physical fitness required for stage performances and long hours of television shootings. “Recently, I have acted in a stage play with Usha Ganguly, from the Indian theatre group Rangkarmi in collaboration with the Nagorik theatre group in Dhaka,” says Sriya, “And it was an exhilarating experience!”
Sriya enjoys working on the stage as well as on television, and believes both provide a different kind of learning experience and appeal to different senses. In the future she would like to take Radio Shadhin flourish further and be a large part of it and at the same time keep acting on stage, tv and films if the opportunity arises. “I would like to do my higher studies abroad, but I have a deep connection to Bangladesh and see myself living and working here in the future, the opportunities available here can hardly be found elsewhere.”