Sarla Maheshwari (DD Anchor)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sarla Maheshwari

• Sarla Maheshwari is a former Indian newsreader of Doordarshan who was famous for her style of news reading and simplicity. She was the one who made history by anchoring the first colour telecast in the era of Black and White TV.

• In 1976, she gave an audition at Doordarshan for the job of an announcer while pursuing PhD at Delhi University.

  

• She started her career as a scriptwriter for kids’ programs like Kapde ki Kahani, and Janmashtami programs and used to work as an announcer on television.

• Even after joining as an announcer, she used to teach at Delhi University as well; she used to go to university in the morning and Doordarshan in the evening.

• In 1982, she started working as a newsreader at Doordarshan where she experienced the transition from black and white television to coloured TV. It was she who anchored the first ever-coloured telecast of Asiad in India.

  

• She met Pawan Maheshwari in 1983 at some friend’s party, then they get along and got married in 1984.

• In 1984, she left her job at Doordarshan after getting married and went to England with her husband where she joined BBC England.

  

• In October 1986, she came back to India and rejoined Doordarshan as a news anchor in 1988.

• She was threatened to kill by militants for telecasting news during militancy in Punjab.

• In May 1991, when Rajiv Gandhi passed away, it was Sarla Maheshwari who announced the news of his death to the whole nation through Doordarshan.

• In 1997, after the demise of Mother Teresa, Sarla Maheshwari went to West Bengal to cover her last rites; following which she took a decision to take care of her kids’ rather than going out of the city to cover any news.

• In an interview, she revealed that the reason for her success was her father who played the role of biggest critic in her life.

• Popular newsreaders like Salma Sultan, Minu Talwar, Sheila Chaman, and Shammi Narang were colleagues of Sarla Maheshwari.(From left to right) Sarla Maheshwari, Salma Sultan, Sheila Chaman, and Minu Talwar

• She became famous for her style of anchoring and the Gujarati sarees she wore in the studio.