Gitanjali Aiyar, one of Doordarshan’s first English female news anchors, passed away on Wednesday. She was said to suffer from Parkinson’s disease and collapsed after returning home from a walk. She was 72
She completed her education from Loreto College in Kolkata and joined All India Radio in 1971 in the English news section and shifted to Doordarshan in 1976. She won the best anchor award four times. Besides this Gitanjali is also the recipient of the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award for Outstanding Women in the year 1989.
She also acted in a DD show ‘Khandaan’ and featured in print advertisements too.
Being a familiar face on television, many people took to Twitter to offer their condolences. Gitanjali is survived by a son Shekhar and a daughter Pallavi Aiyar who is also an award-winning journalist. Both her children are based in the US. The cremation will be held on Friday.
