All appears calm high up in Chamba, a village in the Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand. But 34 year-old Rajendra Negi, director of the region’s community radio, Henvalvani, is bracing himself against brutal expletives by locals at his recording studio — which, he says, is just a fancy term for the cramped room with a single, large table holding recording equipment.

Bharti Kakkad interviews activists at the city’s community radio, Jago Mumbai at Khar Pic/ Pradeep Dhivar