The first voice on Telugu Doordarshan, Shanti Swaroop, fell silent on Friday morning at a city hospital. “Ee roju vartala lone mukhya amshalu (Highlights of today’s news)”, was one of the first sentences heard on Doordarshan on November 14, 1983, at 7 p.m. where he began with narrating the news about the then Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao attending the Children’s Day celebrations at LB Stadium in Hyderabad.
In the absence of teleprompter at the beginning of broadcasting revolution, he would memorise the news and read. “I would memorise the news like math tables and read so that I don’t have to glance up and down on the written paper,” he had said during one of his interviews after he moved away from the medium. The result for the viewers was one where he appeared as if he is weighing his words before delivering them.
He was predeceased by his wife Roja Rani, also an anchor on Doordarshan, who had begun her career as a child actor in Krishna’s movie Thene Manasulu in 1965.
Tributes began pouring in as the news of his passing spread on social media. Mourning his demise, the Chief Minister in his message said: “The death of Shanti Swaroop, who was known to all Telugu people as a first generation news reader, was sad. Since 1983, Shanti Swaroop has made his mark as a news reader. His services rendered by Doordarshan for a long time are memorable to the people of Telugu states. May his soul rest in peace. My deepest condolences to the family.”
