Sarla Maheshwari was a famous news anchor in India in the 1980s. She is known for her news reading style and fashion sense. From 1984 to 1986 she worked at BBC England. She oversaw the transition of news television from black and white to color.
Wiki/Biography
Sarla Maheshwari was born in 1954 (69 years old as of 2023). She received her BA and MA in Hindi Literature from Delhi University. She also pursued a Ph.D. at Delhi University. While pursuing a Ph.D. In 1976, she auditioned for Doordarshan announcer role.
Photos of Sarla Maheshwari in college
appearance
Height (approximately): 5’4″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
She belongs to a Gujarati family.
Parents and siblings
There is not much information about her parents. She has three sisters.
husband and children
In 1984, she married gastroenterologist Pawan Maheshwari. She has two sons, Kavish and Himanshu Maheshwari.
Sarla Maheshwari and her husband Pawan Maheshwari
Sarla Maheshwari with her husband Pawan Maheshwari, her elder son Kavish Maheshwari and her younger son Himanshu Maheshwari
Profession
teacher
While pursuing her PhD at Delhi University, she worked as a lecturer; she taught in the morning and worked as a broadcaster in the evening.
news anchor
Sarla Maheshwari started her television career in 1976 with Doordarshan. At the beginning of her career, she wrote scripts for children’s shows and worked as a announcer on television. In 1982, she became a newscaster on Doordarshan. After her marriage in 1984, she left Doordarshan and her teaching job and traveled to England with her husband. From 1984 to 1986 she worked at the BBC. In October 1986, she returned to India with her husband. In 1988, she rejoined Doordarshan and became an icon in journalism. She continued working at Doordarshan till 2005.
Screenshot of Sarla Maheshwari working as a newscaster in Doordarshan
Facts/Trivia
- Sarla Maheshwari is popular for her cool and composed journalism as well as her Gujarati saree style.
- In the initial years of her career, she wrote scripts for children’s shows like Kapde ki Kahani and Janmashtami shows.
- Sarla Maheshwari was the anchor who announced the death of Rajiv Gandhi to the nation in May 1991.
- In 1997, she covered the last rites of Mother Teresa in West Bengal, after which Sarla decided not to report outdoors and to stay home with her children.
- In 1982, she hosted the first color television broadcast of the Asian Games (now the Asian Games) in India.
- In the late eighties, during the armed conflict in Punjab, Sara received threatening phone calls to kill her for presenting news on television.
- She has worked with many famous anchors such as Salma Sultan, Minu Talwar, Sheila Chaman, Shammi Narang, etc.
(Left to right) Sarla Maheshwari, Salma Sultan, Sheila Chaman and Minu Talwar
- She received many offers to work in films and television commercials, but she turned them down and decided to continue her career as a news reader.
- She said in an interview that her father was her biggest critic in life, which helped her succeed in her career.
- Together with her husband, she runs a charity hospital in Delhi.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education