They have never played my song, or read out my traffic bulletin, or any of my other smses, leading me to often think I was on their RJs' blacklist, but that did not prevent Go 92.5 from being my favourite FM station. The only one I tuned in to.

Few things represented the Mumbai spirit to me, and Go 92.5 was one of them.

It was more than 10 years ago, in its earlier avatar of Radio Mid-Day, and it was now.

My mornings and evenings, and over the weekends the days and nights, were never complete without having it play in the background. The times we had people over, I still had Go 92.5 playing in the background rather than take out my CDs etc.

The banter between Taraana and Jaggu in the morning, sometimes the over-enthusiastic Shruti who came on at 11 am, Horn OK Please with Malini on the way home which dovetailed into Classics with Glen past 9 pm, topped by the T-Man on Sunday mornings -- man, I was hooked, you get the picture.

I was not the only one, most people I knew shared my fondness for Go 92.5. In particular their mix of English and Hindi, not just in the choice of songs but also by their RJs.

I remember the time when Anish Trivedi would host Good Morning Mumbai and stole hearts. I distinctly remember his last show, when he said 'Good Morning Mumbai, Goodbye Mumbai', I actually had tears in my eyes. I didn't think anyone could replace him, yet months later I was hooked on to Taraana and Jaggu.

So often I have thought: man, here's one station that's playing my song.

I agreed with their catchline: If it's in your head, it's on Go.

If you ask me what was it about Go 92.5 that got me, I would have said, with apologies to Javed Jaffrey, it's different.

All good things, the bosses at the station must have decided on All Fools Day, must come to an end. So this last week Go 92.5 has changed its colours, and become like any of the other FM stations in Mumbai, which are good I am told but not different.

What exactly has changed?

For one, the lingo. Every morning I grate my teeth as I hear Taraana and Jaggu's familiar banter. Earlier, it was roughly 80 percent in English (Mumbai English, not the Bard's) and the rest in Hindi which gave me so much joy. They spoke like the rest of us, dude. Now it is the other way round. And, I don't get the feeling, listening to them, even they are comfortable with so much of Hindi. It's not second nature to them -- which is what RJing is all about.

Last evening on the way home I tuned in to see what was different at that hour. The bubbly Malini's Horn OK Please, I realised, had made way for someone called  Sangram whose language and choice of songs failed to hold my interest. And, no, Glen with his Classics did not come on at 9 pm either.

Sunday, there was no sign of the T-Man's Brunch or Glen, his stand-in or even the stiff sounding Ayaz Memon. Was there an RJ at all, or was it the station on auto-pilot? I couldn't figure.

Worse, the songs, the songs. The horrors Go 92.5 has been inflicting on Mumbai this last one week cannot by my song. Forget my head, you won't find them within a mile of me!

Whatever happened? I thought the station chose its path after due deliberation, its owners wanted it to be a niche FM station and not replicate the formula of Radio Mirchi, City, Red and what have you. It was not meant to be oriented towards the mass market, but a very select crowd.

I don't have its financials, but I am sure it worked. All its shows had sponsors, and they aired plenty of jingles. It was the station of choice for so many of Mumbai's movers and shakers, any advertiser's delight.

What gives a radio station its soul are the RJs, their lingo, and the songs, not necessarily in that order. Today, possibly the last day I will tune to Go 92.5 (all my other friends have already switched off), there's nothing in it to hold me.

You've gone away, 92.5.

-- Highway Star