This is so surreal. One never expects a sad moment. I never thought that I will have to talk about Gitanjali like this. Gitanjali Aiyar – one of India's first English TV news presenters – passed away on 7 June.
I did my first bulletin for Doordarshan in 1982. And she started somewhere in 1975-1976. She was a heartthrob to millions.
We had a lovely stint together for almost 22 years. Her biggest asset, I would say, was her command over the English language – diction, pronunciation and enunciation.
The moment Gitanjali used to come to the make-up room, she used to steal the show. She used to speak with so much gravitas. Mashallah unki language pe jo command tha because she sailed both the boats – All India Radio (AIR) and television – and both different genres. She was looking after people’s song requests on the one hand, and on the other, she was very impersonal while reading the news. That is why her voice modulation was so good!
Whenever youngsters used to visit the office as part of their college orientation, our Director used to tell them listen to Gitanjali or Neethi (Ravindran). Komal (GB Singh) was also very popular at that time. Even the editors used to tell trainees that if you want to upgrade your skills, you should learn from Gitanjali.