Karishmeh

Who says modern life is rubbish? Well, keep your head down, Damon, because here's an example of something great that couldn't have happened even 10 years ago.

Listening to Radio 3 last week, I was struck by the voice of the announcer, who I'd never heard before. The accent was a weird blend of Irish and, I guessed, Indian. The Radio 3 website confirmed that her name was Karishmeh Felfeli - a spelling which I probably wouldn't have guessed. So a quick google finds she has a wikipedia entry, which confirms she was indeed born in India (in Pune) but has lived and worked in Ireland for some time as a musician with a wide range of interests.

Follow the links and you find her Glenn Gould Project, or Sarabande, which is largely self-explanatory but covers a wide range of musical topics, and her show for Dublin radio, Offbeat, with a complete online archive of shows, including one dedicated to a Belfast dog that had been impounded by the local authority for looking a bit dodgy. She has also spun off into a blog about animal welfare. Clearly, a fascinating woman.

There's so much interesting stuff here that I have only begun to explore, and all of this springing from an intriguing accent heard on a rainy afternoon. Modern life is brilliant.