Punjabi Radio USA (KLOK 1170 AM / 99.3 FM) is a commercial AM radio station in San Jose, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area and dedicated to Punjabi-language talk shows and music programming for the Punjabi diaspora. The station broadcasts 24/7 and is part of a larger network covering multiple California markets. Its mission centers on connecting listeners with Punjabi culture, news, devotional content, and community discourse. Launched under the Punjabi Radio USA brand in 2010, the station has become a vital media platform for Punjabi Americans.
A post-show image of the cast and creative team of a dance-theatre performance, Raabdta, which is a dance-theatre production about discovering a deep, emotional connection to one’s home, homeland and cultural roots through nostalgic traditions and heritage.
Rubab. The "rubab رُباب" is a short-necked lute with sympathetic strings heavily popular in the Pashtun music of Afghanistan. It is also used in Persian classical and folk music.
Radhika Rao is a multilingual theater and improv artist, teaching artist, organizational communications coach, and community facilitator based in San Francisco. Her work moves across scripted performance, Shakespeare, improvisation, education, and communication training. Rao describes her mission as using theater to facilitate dialogue, help people become better communicators, and create more peaceful ways of relating to one another.
Born and raised in India, Rao began doing theater more fully while studying at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and later pursued graduate work in theater and education in the United States. Since moving to the Bay Area, she has found a vibrant theater ecosystem where she could perform beyond narrowly defined ethnic roles, especially through Shakespeare, improv, and nontraditional casting. Her Bay Area work includes collaborations with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, New Conservatory Theatre Center, American Conservatory Theater, Leela Improv, EnActe Arts, and Farah Yasmeen Shaikh/Noorani Dance.
Rao’s practice is rooted in the belief that theater is not only performance, but a way of building voice, confidence, empathy, and connection. She has used theater and improvisation in schools, medical and nursing education, police training, legal and workplace communication, anti-bullying programs, environmental education, and community-based dialogue. As an artist of South Asian origin working across both South Asian and broader Bay Area theater spaces, Rao brings a perspective shaped by Indian mythology, multilingual performance, Shakespeare, improvisation, and the experience of often being the only South Asian artist in a room. Her work expands the story of South Asian theater in the Bay Area by showing how South Asian theater practitioners also contribute across mainstream, educational, community, and experimental performance contexts.
Radhika Rao performs as B in Shotgun Players’ production of The Claim. The play examines immigration, asylum, and the power dynamics of official interview processes. Rao’s role in the production reflects her broader theater practice, which often connects performance with communication, empathy, and the ethical stakes of how people listen to and respond to one another.
Radhika Rao performs as Guildenstern in San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s production of Hamlet. Rao has described San Francisco Shakespeare Festival as an important part of her Bay Area theater journey, offering opportunities to perform, teach, and work with classical theater in expansive ways. Her Shakespeare work reflects her interest in language, adaptation, and nontraditional casting.
Radhika Rao performs as Lady Macbeth opposite Teddy Spencer in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, produced by Arabian Shakespeare Festival and directed by Terri McMahon in 2016. This role reflects Rao’s sustained engagement with Shakespeare and classical theater, a major part of her work as an actor in the Bay Area and beyond.
Radhika Rao performs as Timon in a preview of American Conservatory Theater’s educational touring production of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens at the Theater Bay Area conference in November 2025. In this scene, Timon gets back at the creditors who have been hounding her. Directed by Peter J. Kuo, the production reflects Rao’s broader practice of using theater to spark dialogue around human behavior, trust, generosity, betrayal, and ethical choice.
Radhika Rao with playwright Krista Knight during Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s 2026 Summer Intensive Program, where Rao directed the world premiere of Knight’s Heroes’ Journey. The comedy is a meta-narrative about classical story structure: when the expected Hero does not appear, the Greek Chorus becomes the Hero instead. The play explores the idea that everyone can be a hero and protagonist of their own story. The project reflects Rao’s work as a director and teaching artist, particularly her commitment to youth theater, arts education, collaboration, and creative expression.
Radhika Rao appears as Clare Reynolds in the 2023 world premiere of Before the Sword at New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco, directed by Ed Decker. The play is a coming-of-age drama set in a post-WWI British village and imagines the real-life inspirations behind T.H. White’s fantasy novel The Sword in the Stone. Centered on a troubled teenage boy and his relationship with the eccentric author Tim White, the story explores trauma, outsider identity, secrecy, queer desire, and the transformation of pain into art. Rao’s character, Clare Reynolds, is the vibrant vicar’s wife whose relationship with Freddie’s mother, Hannah, helps reveal the play’s themes of repressed desire and self-discovery.
Radhika Rao appears in New Conservatory Theatre Center’s 2014 production of Cock, written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Stephen Rupsch. The play centers on John, a man in a long-term relationship with another man who unexpectedly falls in love with a woman, forcing him to confront questions of sexuality, identity, desire, and the limits of labels. Known for its stripped-down staging and emotionally charged dialogue, Cock examines how people define themselves and each other within intimate relationships. Rao’s appearance in the production reflects her broader work across contemporary Bay Area theater and her connection to NCTC, one of the first Bay Area theaters to give her performance and teaching opportunities.
Radhika Rao appears in Cutting Ball Theater’s 2018 production of Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare. Rao’s Shakespeare work is a major part of her artistic practice, connecting classical theater with contemporary questions of identity, communication, and human behavior. In interview, Rao described Shakespeare as one of the theatrical forms that has allowed her to perform beyond narrowly defined ethnic roles while also bringing her full identity into the work.
Serving the Bay Area’s Punjabi and broader South Asian community, Radio Punjab AM 1310 (KMKY) broadcasts in Punjabi, Hindi, and English from Oakland, California. Owned by Charanjit Batth through Radio Punjab AM 1310 Inc., the station offers a dynamic mix of news, devotional programming, talk shows, and music that connects Punjabi-American listeners across Northern California.
The 1310 kHz frequency carries a deep history. Dating back to its 1920s origins under the early call letters KLS, it has evolved through formats and ownership to become one of the region’s longest-running radio signals. Since its transition to a South Asian format, Radio Punjab has become a cultural mainstay, linking farmers in the Central Valley, families in the East Bay, and entrepreneurs across the Bay Area.
Even as AM broadcasting faces challenges, Radio Punjab continues to reflect the vitality of community radio—preserving language, faith, and connection for the diaspora.
Launched in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2011, Radio Zindagi (KZDG 1550 AM) is the first 24/7 South Asian radio station in the United States. Owned by Factorial Media, it operates as part of a national network with sister stations in New York/New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The station’s name, Zindagi (“life” in Hindi), reflects its mission to connect and celebrate the cultures and stories of the South Asian diaspora. Programming blends Bollywood music, talk shows, news, and community storytelling in Hindi, English, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, and other languages. Through interviews, local coverage, and public-interest segments, Radio Zindagi has become a vital cultural hub linking South Asian identity, media, and community life in the Bay Area.
Photograph from Radio Zindagi’s annual Ganesh Utsav, a large-scale community celebration in the Bay Area. The image documents Radio Zindagi’s role as a cultural convenor and illustrates how South Asian community media extends beyond broadcasting into public events and community gathering spaces
Photograph documenting a Radio Zindagi interview with acclaimed actress Meenakshi Seshadri. The image represents Radio Zindagi’s cultural programming and its role in connecting Bay Area audiences with prominent South Asian artists and public figures.
The image documents the people and production infrastructure behind South Asian community radio in the Bay Area, emphasizing Radio Zindagi’s role as a community media institution.
This audio clip is a station identification used in Radio Zindagi’s broadcast programming. These short audio elements establish the station’s on-air identity and reinforce its role as a South Asian community radio outlet serving the San Francisco Bay Area.
This audio clip is a station identification jingle used in Radio Zindagi’s broadcast programming. These short audio elements establish the station’s on-air identity and reinforce its role as a South Asian community radio outlet serving the San Francisco Bay Area.
Raj Mathai — A Trusted Voice in Bay Area Journalism
Raj Mathai is a veteran television journalist and news anchor at NBC Bay Area (KNTV), where he has become one of the region’s most trusted and recognizable broadcast figures. Born in Trivandrum, India, and raised in the Bay Area, Mathai has spent over two decades covering the stories that shape Northern California—from breaking news and major civic events to technology and culture.
Before becoming a news anchor, Mathai made history as one of the first Indian-American sportscasters in the United States, serving as NBC Bay Area’s sports director and anchoring coverage of multiple Super Bowls, Olympics, and major Bay Area sports milestones. His career reflects both journalistic excellence and cultural representation, helping pave the way for greater diversity in mainstream American media.
Beyond the newsroom, Mathai is deeply involved in community engagement and mentorship, supporting initiatives that uplift emerging journalists and promote inclusion in local media. His credibility, empathy, and professionalism have made him a defining voice in Bay Area journalism.
