Gitanjali Aiyar, who was among the first English newsreaders on Indian television and had a three-decade career with DD, died of a cerebral haemorrhage on Wednesday afternoon. She was remembered for her composure, erudite delivery, and diction.
Gitanjali Aiyar, one of the country's most talented news anchors, died on June 07 in Delhi. The 71-year-old had been sick for a while. Gitanjali was a prominent face of Doordarshan's prime-time news for decades at 9 pm. She, like many of her contemporaries on the public broadcaster, brought grace and dignity to television news before news studios became war rooms and news presenters began engaging in shouting competitions.
Gitanjali read the news thoroughly. She belongs to a time when professors encouraged students to listen to Gitanjali, Neethi Ravindran, and Rini Simon to enhance their English, and anchors kept a neutral tone.
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Back then, teleprompters had yet to make their way into newsrooms, and when they did, they frequently broke down in the middle of a live broadcast. Gitanjali was noted not just for her impeccable accent but also for her composure and tranquilly.
A dear friend & TV News colleague Gitanjali Aiyar left for her heavenly abode. Am saddened & shocked as she seemed so everlasting & poised . These 2 pics taken 25 years apart - the bnw pic taken in the makeup room just before the News & at IIC about 3 years ago. RIP Gitanjali 🙏 pic.twitter.com/hANeuKj38P
— Sheila Chaman (@sheila_chaman)Who was Gitanjali Aiyar?
Gitanjali was hooked on being a news reader at 6-years-old, excelled in elocution events throughout her undergraduate days, and entered the news industry after graduating from Kolkata's Loreto College.
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She was also a student of the National School of Drama. It enabled her to expand her wings beyond the new landscape. She appeared in Khandaan, a prominent Doordarshan teleserial that was popular in the mid-1980s.
Sad to hear of the passing away of Gitanjali Aiyar. From An age where there were news readers who just read the news without any noise or fuss. No debate, no opinion. Remember Tejeshwar Singh, Salma Sultan, Rini Simon, Luke Sanyal and many more. Gitanjali always so poised and… pic.twitter.com/QTe35d0XqF
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep)She was so popular at one point that she was included in advertising for Solidaire television and Marmite. After leaving Doordarshan, she also experimented with corporate communications with the Taj and Oberoi group of hotels, working as a consultant for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature.