PANAJI
Milena Marques-Zachariah, creator and host of Radio Mango.
In what would be welcome news for Konkani lovers across the world, the popular radio programme Radio Mango in Canada will be relaunched shortly as ‘K For Konkani’, with a bigger team, new and refreshed content and on a different platform for a wider audience to connect with the Konkani language.
Milena Marques-Zachariah, creator and host of Radio Mango who hails from Parra, provided details on the birth, importance and new content of Radio Mango for Goans across the world.
PLAY
Milena, whose career began with advertising in Mumbai and continued in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for 12 years before moving to Canada in 1999, said the need for a Konkani radio show was felt, given a void in Canada for Konkani language.
“Our people have been in Canada since the early 70's and there was no entertainment available in Konkani, connecting them to their Konkani heritage,” explained Milena.
“Almost every other language was represented here in Canada, except Konkani. I realised this gap must be closed and our language given the pride of place it deserves.”
Milena was ideally suited to set up a radio show to promote Konkani.
“First, I am trained in radio and TV, from the Xavier's Institute of Mass Communications, Mumbai. Second, my advertising and marketing background helped create and propagate the radio,” said Milena.
“Third, Konkani has a large repertoire of music and songs from Goa and Mangalore. It needed a platform to showcase this wealth of songs. Radio was the perfect medium to propagate our language and music.”
“Fourth, here in Canada, the CMR station focused on regional radio, and they gave me the slot for Radio Mango. And lastly, I realised the Goan diaspora in Canada didn’t speak Konkani with the same pride that Mangaloreans did. I therefore decided to target fellow Mangaloreans to sustain this effort.”
“Radio Mango’s first broadcast went live on CMR 101.3 FM on September 29, 2012, and created history as the first Konkani radio not just in North America but also in the western hemisphere.”
Milena said the 2-hour programme broadcast once a week featured interviews from the community, relevant discussions, nostalgia segments, news from Goa and Mangalore, recipe segments, bands and artistes from Goa and Mangalore.
“Radio Mango gave Goans and Mangaloreans a platform they never had to showcase talents, views and opinions,” explained Milena.
PAUSE
After five years being live on radio, Milena said Radio Mango evolved into a podcast format, also being broadcast once a week.
“I ran it single-handedly as a not-for-profit podcast for several years, with financial help from Goan and Mangalorean communities. At the end of 2025, I decided to throw in the towel and retire,” admitted Milena.
REPLAY
Much to Milena’s pleasant surprise, Konkani lovers across the world demanded that she brought back the radio show.
Milena then decided to set up a new team to relaunch the radio show with revised content and on a revised platform.
“Now, I have two highly accomplished Mangaloreans joining me for Radio Mango's rebirth. This husband-and-wife team has a lot of experience in TV programming. Ashith Pinto is an experienced audio engineer and brings his expertise in audio-visual and post-production to the team. He is also a consummate musician,” said Milena.
“Babita Pinto is a celebrity in her own right. A well-known TV host, acclaimed singer and MC, Babita hosted DaijiworldTV’s hugely popular ‘Mozo Tallo Gaitolo’ and Canada's well-known ‘Konkani Utsav’. She joins me as co-host.”
Milena said it has been a pleasure for her to work with professionals who understand the audio-visual medium.
“We are all set to reintroduce Radio Mango shortly on YouTube in Canada. The YouTube platform will make it easier for people to access us instead of SoundCloud, where the programme was previously hosted. Now we will be heard, and seen."
"Most importantly, we are re-launching Radio Mango as ‘K For Konkani' but under the Radio Mango banner. We are calling it ‘K for Konkani’ because we want kids and young adults to know and understand that learning Konkani is as easy as A for Apple.”
“It is the language connecting them to the past and the future, the language of storytelling, of laughing with friends and family and, most crucially, the language that gives us our identity. K For Konkani intends to encourage our young ones to take pride in our language and our culture.”
Babita Pinto will join Milena Marques-Zachariah as the co-host of Radio Mango’s ‘K For Konkani' show.
Milena said the new format will see Babita and her discuss various topics, making it a point to include the future generation and connect with them in a special way.
“Ashith and Babita’s talented son Zach (12), who speaks Konkani fluently, will join us on air for one segment, to encourage kids and young adults to learn and speak the language,” said Milena.
“The format includes pertinent topics, humour, music, songs and a kids’ component. Everything is new. People will see us, instead of just listening to my voice. People can comment and send their views on YouTube. Babita and I will strive to keep the programme topical and exciting, with Ashith handling the audio-visual component and post-production."
FORWARD
Milena said the plan is to try and keep Radio Mango’s ‘K For Konkani’ on air for a longer period.“Some people had predicted that Radio Mango would not survive because Konkani speakers were decreasing, mainly with the diaspora. However, they underestimated our resilience and, most importantly, people’s need to connect with Goa and Mangalore and the strong and consistent pull of nostalgia,” explained Milena.
“We need people to talk about our efforts; nothing beats word of mouth. We need well-wishers and all the financial support we can get. They may contact me by email ([email protected]). We need people to view us on YouTube. Initially, we will be on YouTube once a month. This is an initiative that’s the first of its kind in the Konkani world. We need all the support we can get to keep our beloved Konkani language alive not just in Canada but across the world.”
