Hawaiian music surfs
Indiana’s airwaves

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By Molly Woulfe
Associated Press

HAMMOND, Ind. >> Her nickname: Island Girl. Her mission: conjuring up images of white sandy beaches, palm trees and little grass shacks for the mainland.

"Good afternoon, everyone," disc jockey Dharini Balajee greets listeners at 2 p.m. every Sunday on WJOB Radio. "Welcome again to 'Aloha, Hawaii,' bringing you a half-hour of beautiful Hawaiian music."

Northwest Indiana's 50-something host, a pink lily behind one ear, spends the next 30 minutes spinning chants and ballads featuring artists ranging from the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole to Hapa. Veteran showman Don Ho recently rang up for a chat. "I call him the king of Hawaiian music. He's very popular," Balajee says.

Her format is loose-knit. If Island Girl feels gregarious, she drops tidbits about Hawaiian culture, plays requests - Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii" is a crowd-pleaser - and gives away tickets to "Pearl Harbor." If she's reflective, she lets the music wash over her and her 20,000 listeners. "Sometimes I want to talk. Sometimes I just announce the stuff," she shrugs.

Balajee grew up on Sri Lanka off the coast of Southeast India and immigrated to the United States 35 years ago. She taught in Montessori schools across the Midwest before settling in Munster.

While a teacher, Balajee toyed with the idea of a broadcasting career, but a 1998 vacation to Oahu sealed her destiny. She fell in love with slack-key guitar and the soothing harmonies that are hallmarks of island music. "Everything fell into place," she says.

The married mother of two returned home with three dozen albums and enrolled in Columbia College's broadcasting program in Chicago. After interning at WJOB, she launched her own program at the station last spring. She also pops up on the cable show "This Week in Munster."

A heartland town 4,200 miles from Hawaii is a curious hub of island tunes, but the melodies are part of American culture, producer Chris Locken notes. "Where else but WJOB can you hear Don Ho?" he joked.

The show's "a hoot," operations manager Scott Rosenberg adds. "You can kick back in your hammock with a tropical drink in your hand."

Native Hawaiian Keoni Bode, 42, suspects "Aloha, Hawaii" is the only show of its kind statewide since an Indianapolis station shelved a similar program.

The South Bend construction worker, an old hand at the ukulele and slack-key guitar, hopes Balajee's efforts foster appreciation for the sensual and spiritual music.

Many fans compare Hawaiian to country, but island tunes "talk about the flowers, talk about the plants, even the animal life at home. The beauty of the islands is expressed in a lot of songs. It's different from any other music," Bode says.

The quintessential ballad, like Hawaii, "is romantic," Balajee notes.

"That might be the reason people go there so often for honeymoons."