From Hansraj college professor to DD newsreader: Sarla Maheshwari faced terror threats during Punjab extremism

NEW DELHI: Sarla Maheshwari, whose clear diction and dignified demeanour made her one of the popular Doordarshan (DD) newsreaders in the 1980s, passed away on Thursday. She was 74.

"She had been ailing for the past two years. A diabetic, she was also on dialysis," her nephew, Neelansh Jariwala, told TOI on phone.




Sarla also taught Hindi in the city's Hansraj College and worked for BBC television.

In the 1980s, the state-run broadcaster was India's lone television channel enjoying a captive audience. Prime time news readers such as JV Raman, Shammi Narang, Neethi Ravindran, Salma Sultan, Rini Simon, Komal GB Singh, among others, were household names. Now when TV news is a synonym for noise and when stridency and hectoring are mistaken for anchoring, many old-timers fondly recall those gentler and genteel times.

Sarla belonged to the same select group of news readers. "Her command and grasp over the Hindi language reflected in the way she read news. Sarla epitomized simplicity and elegance reflecting a graceful Indianness. If today, people remember DD positively and with nostalgia, her personality was significant in shaping that image," says Narang.

Sarla joined DD in 1976. She was Sarla Jariwala then. Her surname derives from the family business of jaris (embroidery of gold and silver threads) in Chandni Chowk where she was born. Working for her PhD on a comparative study of Hindi and Gujarati Literature at Delhi University, she applied for a job in DD. "I was one of the three selected – Avinash Kaur (Sareen) and Anjali Rai – being the other two," she once recalled in an interview. In the 1980s, all three became popular newsreaders.

In Sept 1984, she married Pawan Maheshwari, a gastroenterologist, then working in England. They first met at a friend's place. He also treated her for an ailment. "Marry me and you'll be okay, I joked," said Pawan at a TV show sometime back. They did.

When the two went back to England, Sarla worked for the BBC. On coming back to India in 1988, she rejoined DD. Soon, like some other DD newsreaders, she developed a strong fan base. Letters poured in not only praising her composure and pronunciation but also the Gujarati saris she wore in a particular style. But it wasn't always praise. Sarla was also threatened by terrorists during the peak of Punjab extremism in the 1980s.

In the summer of 1991, she would read out the news of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, again with her signature restraint. Narang recalled another incident which underlines her proficiency under pressure. In those pre-teleprompter times, he recalled, two newsreaders would read from sheets with their initials written on them. "Once the producer focused on the wrong person. But Sarla was unflustered. She took a brief pause and read the item. Nobody noticed the slip. The incident highlighted her quick thinking. She was a true professional," he said.