Kuldeep Deepak: The Pioneer of Punjabi radio in North America

The man who reached the shores of Canada in the early 70s, armed with a Masters degree in History started his career as a management trainee eventually became an Office Manager and Systems Technical Analyst. But then came a turning point, which laid the foundation of his meteoric rise and that was the untimely death of the renowned poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi. This void moved him so much that he focussed his sight towards the world of music and radio. And so was born the velvety voice of the one and only Kuldip Deepak, which continues to mesmerise everyone via the crackling airwaves of North America.
And he did keep the promise that he had silently made to himself and that was to sing and celebrate Punjabi literary giants like Amrita Pritam, Shiv Batalvi, SurjitPattar etc. Incidently, before turning his sights towards radio, Deepak had already made big strides in the world of singing and became the first singer in North America to sing Batalvi’s poetry in 1978. The album was aptly titled ‘Kuldip Deepak sings Shiv Batalvi’ and it was a runaway success all across.

Later, Deepak would go on to record songs with greats like Asa Singh Mastana, Pushpa Hans and Jagjit Singh. After conquering the world of music, he now set his eyes towards the radio world, and the year 1980, saw the birth of North America’s very popular radio program ‘Punjab Di Goonj’. “Those days were quite difficult as advertising was hard to come by because of paucity of Indian businesses in the Toronto area and many a time, I had to pump in my own savings to keep the radio show going”, remembers Deepak.

Other than his immense success as a singer and radio host, supporting community related charities in North America and India, have also been very close to his heart. Over the past decades Deepak has also been instrumental in raising funds for charitable causes ranging from mobilising funds for religious places to victims of natural disasters. “This is my way of giving back to the community that has given me so much honour and respect. It is my way of thanking them for being by my side all these years”, he remarks nostalgically.
No wonder, his show is still the most popular and continues to ‘heat-up’ the airwaves in the Greater Toronto Area.