Sarla Maheshwari: Doordarshan bulletin’s voice of grace passes away at 71

Her friend and former colleague, Shammi Narang, who would often present news with her, recalls how he was quite nervous when he joined Doordarshan in 1983. Maheshwari was his senior then.

To perfect his presentation, an editor asked him to spend some time with Maheshwari, who, says Narang, “had exquisite language, diction, grace and composure” at a time when live news broadcasts were done without teleprompters.

“While people think she must have been a subdued woman, she actually had a great sense of humour,” says Narang.

Maheshwari, began her career in Doordarshan as a news announcer while pursuing her PhD in Hindi. She also taught as a professor of Hindi in Delhi University’s Jesus and Mary College (JMC) and Hansraj College.

AT JMC, one of her students was Rini Khanna, who later became her colleague in the English division of Doordarshan. Khanna describes Maheshwari as an institution who came with a “rock solid foundation”.

“What was fabulous about her was that she was quiet elegance. She was someone you looked at with the same reference as Pupul Jayakar,” recalls Khanna.

“She was so confident about her poise, about her stature, about her diction. Maheshwari was someone who was very proficient in what she was doing. These were qualities that you wanted to emulate,” says Khanna, who compered with her post the Doordarshan days as well. “She brought a certain gravitas to the situation. It’s a huge loss,” said Khanna, who would speak to her often and mentioned how she wasn’t keeping well for a while.

For Doordarshan news anchor Sadhna Shrivastav, who watched her on television in college, Maheshwari was the epitome of grace. “I won’t ever forget my trip to London. She was just married and had moved there and so lovingly she showed me around,” said Shrivastav.

Narang also adds how Maheshwari’s personality came across as non-controversial. He recounts how deft she was when it came to sorting out confusion between anchors often on air.

“Whenever Maheshwari was around, a switching mistake, where a line was left out, was read by the other person so quickly that the viewer would have no clue that there was any hesitation,” says Narang.

Khanna recounts learning how to wear the reverse pallu sari from her. “She was Gujarati and carried her culture so beautifully without it being loud. It was quiet and respectable” says Khanna.

While the medium of news around her turned into a din, Maheshwari would often refrain from commenting on the situation. She perhaps didn’t want to add to the noise.