Neeraj Sablok, left, working on an analogue radio at Noizzy Box in Egmore.
| Photo Credit: M. SRINATH
Upon entering Prince Plaza in Egmore, you are greeted by a mix of time-worn shops. Among these is a relatively new store tucked away in the basement, yet it offers something that’s serving up the retro flair — analogue radios.
Neeraj Sablok, who grew up in Anna Nagar, is the brain behind Noizzy Box, a brand dedicated to analogue radios since 2015. Stepping inside the shop feels like taking a trip back in time to the ‘50s and ‘60s. The story began with a quirky analogue radio paperweight, a gift from Hong Kong that Mr. Neeraj gave his grandmother A. Kavita. He says her eyes lit up with memories of yesteryears upon seeing the gift, a cue that eventually led to him opening Noizzy Box. When the store opened, his grandmother proudly became its first customer, spending her days listening to the radio from dawn till dusk.
“Is this real?” is the typical reaction for those who stumble upon these analogue radio advertisements online. One such curious Chennaite, Anand, found himself drawn to the store on a Thursday evening, after seeing an ad for a Retro XXL radio model. A collector of vintage bicycles, Mr. Anand was determined to reconnect with the nostalgic Madras.
“When was the last time you hummed your favourite tune?” Mr. Neeraj asked, pausing to let the question resonate. “You’ll hum to the music when you are listening to the same on an analogue radio, because it captures the nuances of the song, the subtleties, crackle of the static, and depth of the tones,” he said.
Genuine retro experience
Mr. Neeraj believes his analogue radios offer a genuine retro experience. “Many of these spare parts are no longer available, so we began producing our analogue radios in-house, sourcing raw materials from Taiwan. Our radios come with FM, AM, and shortwave 1 and shortwave 2, and they have been updated for modern needs with Bluetooth, SD card, and USB facilities,” he adds. He is now working on the thinnest radio to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.
Amid the hustle and noise of modern Chennai, there are always bits of Madras hidden in its nooks and crannies for anyone seeking to soak in the soft nostalgia.
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