and we know with whom we are chatting compared to chatting on the internet ham radio is communicating with real people in the real world says gore explaining why he thinks ham is better than internet chattingfor 18yearold zuzar kudrati who has recently appeared for his twelfth standard exam ham radio was something that he saw on tv regularly i used to be fascinated by films and serials where i saw people communicating with their handy radio fortunately i had time and also guidance from a relative who is a ham radio operator says kudratiaccording to kudrati what really thrills him about ham radio is that dozens of people can communicate simultaneously on one medium in yahoo or msn webcam chatting is often oneonone on ham radio the response one gets is far more interesting because one can speak to a number of people from different areas kudrati recently cleared his ham radio exam and is awaiting a licence pending police verification kudrati has not formally entered the world of ham but he has a sense of the community because all mars students and members are part of yahoo and orkut groups for 16yearold shruti sathe it was big disappointment that she could not take the ham radio tests as they clashed with her eleventh standard exams but she is more than determined to take the exams and believes that it is just a matter of time before she becomes an amateur radio operator ham operators are a cut above the rest the quality of people who are ham radio operators is amazing she says members of mars go on occasional outstation trips sathe talks wideeyed of such trips the team was split into two groups one went to khandala and the other to a farmhouse near the gujarat border the two groups then communicated with each other ham or amateur radio is a hobby for about six million people in the world according to wikipedia japan alone has 14 million of them indias numbers are modest just over 15000 but the number is growing the new adolescent entrants have company in the form of seasoned professionals like 37yearold dr rita savla a homeopath and khozema siawala a 31yearold businessman dealing in essences and food flavours needless to say it is not always the young who are eager and enthusiastic fiftysevenyearold ashok kulkarni a consultant in the soft drink industry says that when mars classes were announced i was the first one to pay the fees and run to their office the course fee is rs 3500 which covers the tuition course materials licence fees and two outstation trips following the exams which includes passing a morse code test police verification is done by local police stations licences take as long as one year to be granted and the wait can be frustrating after getting the licence one needs to buy radio equipment which is also called a base station to have a conversation in a limited area a