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Her melliflous voice, infectious laughter and dazzling personality lightens a dreary afternoon instantly. Michelle Patrao, one of the citys leading jocks, has been engaging Bengalurus listeners for almost four years now and feels wielding a microphone was her destiny.

A totally musical request Born and brought up in Mangalore, Michelles frequent summer holidays to Bengaluru to visit her grandparents familiarised her with the wonders of the broadcast medium. My grandfather would seat me on his lap and say, I want to see you on television! so that kind of got stuck in my head, reveals the pretty RJ.

She recalls how it was so hard to consider media as a field of study since opportunities were so few and far between. After working in Dubai for two years, she landed an interview with a radio station and says, I owe my career to that producer, who told me my laughter is broadcast-worthy!

It was DJ Ivan who informed her about an RJ hunt in the city and she immediately auditioned for Indigo 91.9. Michelle joins the ranks of radio jockeys like Priya Ganapathy, Johnsie, Vasanthi Hariprakash, Rohit Barker and Darius Sunawala, who have become celebrities after their stints on radio. She has represented the country twice at an international convention for RJs, at Ireland and recently won RJ of the Year South at the Golden Mikes. People think I anchor a show for four hours and must be in a cushy job, but I am at the studio for nine hours, preparing for shows, writing scripts and doing justice to tons of other responsibilities, explains Michelle, Its an amazing job, I get to talk to so many people and I must admit, there are some crazy people I encounter as well.

Dance, dance, baby! Leave her on a dance floor and its her own little party all the way! I cannot and will not give up dancing for anything! The one condition I have for a potential groom is that he must dance, she asserts firmly. With an undying love for travel, she says how a vacation to Ibiza was probably the best she has had so far. One of the wishes on my bucket list was to see Ibiza and party in some of the best nightclubs in the world, before I turned 30 and Im thrilled I could do it. Someone who would lay her life down for her family, Michelle feels there is a side to her a lot of people dont know. My parents, two brothers and grandmother mean the world to me. I dont get people who claim they are who they are because of themselves. I owe my life and success to my family.

Spiritual quotient At a time when its almost fashionable to denounce religious beliefs and embrace agnostic paths, this 31-year-old firmly swears by her faith. I am a religious person. I read the Bible every day, and pray often. I feel it grounds me and gives me the strength to take each day as it comes.

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Chica with a chuckling charm