Opinion Remembering Ameen Sayani, the man with the golden voice
It was a gift he shared with a grateful nation
The entire broadcasting world will miss him because he has inspired and entertained millions of people across the country. 
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The legendary broadcaster, the grand old man of Indian radio, Ameen Sayani passed away at 91 on February 20. I had met him in December at his Mumbai residence before his 91st birthday. He looked a little frail and seemed to have a delicate memory but we still had a long and endearing conversation with him that day. We were very touched when he recognised us — my husband and me and our friends who had accompanied us — and reminisced about incidents from the past. Since his old memories had almost faded away, I was happy I was able to make new ones that day — but little did I know that they would be my last with him.
I am going to hold on to the last few words he said to me. He looked straight into my eyes and said, “Vijaya, I remember… How can I forget you? We did such good work in Mumbai AIR & DD.”
Losing him is like losing someone who has been an integral part of your life since childhood. Very few people are fortunate enough to get to work with their heroes. I have been listening to him since I was in primary school and he is one of the reasons I wanted to join All India Radio (AIR).
I finally met him for the first time in 1987 in Vividh Bharati, Mumbai, and I clearly remember my first interaction with him. From the moment he started talking, I could only listen in awe without uttering a single word. I was a young programme officer and felt extremely conscious of speaking before him, lest I fumbled with my words. He spoke impeccably in both Hindi and English in his inimitable style. He was always immaculately dressed, utterly charming and, to top it off, incredibly humble. Radio was everything for him. Some of us inherited that love from him and his influence on broadcasters stretched far and wide. In small towns, during stage programmes, most announcers tried to speak like him.
Interestingly, he once shared with me that his unique style of speaking on air was developed as a result of the poor acoustics and limitations of his studio. He said it was necessary for him to be able to speak over the street noise that would seep into the studio while recording. But people fell in love with this new and dynamic voice as it was so different from the restrained style of broadcasting prevalent in those days.
Slowly, we built an amazing professional relationship. I soon discovered that besides being a great broadcaster, he was a loving and caring human being. I am blessed to have known him personally and interacted with him professionally for the last 30 years.
He was very appreciative of my work as head of sales and marketing at Doordarshan — though always a little sad that I had moved on from radio to television. He was so proud when I was eventually appointed the director general (DG) of Doordarshan. He especially visited my office in Mandi House to congratulate me and see me on that chair.
I am glad that during my tenure as DG, we managed to record a special programme with him (for the archives of Prasar Bharati) where he spoke extensively about his life, his work and the golden years of Indian broadcasting, of which he was an integral part. This recording is very precious and of immense value to future broadcasters and researchers.
The entire broadcasting world will miss him because he has inspired and entertained millions of people across the country. Recordings of his popular radio show Binaca Geetmala will remain timeless and live on for many more decades.
Radio has been a symbol of romance, melody, mystery and beauty. How aptly it was named Akashvani — a word used in our mythology for celestial voices. Ameen Sayani’s voice was indeed celestial — a gift he shared with the entire nation.
That celestial voice has now left us for its heavenly abode.
The writer is former director general, Doordarshan
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