THOUGH Ameen Sayani, legendary anchor and Radio announcer, visited Nagpur on only a few occasions, the city has preserved his fond memories. There are a few personalities with whom Sayani had a connection but Kishan Sharma, noted anchor and author, shared a special bond with him. “I met Ameenji last time two months ago in Mumbai regarding work on his biography,” Sharma told ‘The Hitavada’ with a choked voice. “I met him first at Bhopal when I was working there at All India Radio. Sayani had come to anchor a fashion show. He had come with Meher Mistry, Persis Khambata, Veena Sajnani and others for a beauty pageant. We were known to each other by name but had never met. It was our first meeting,” said Sharma. “Ameen Sayani had to leave for Mumbai the next day because of some reason.

 

He handed over the duty of anchoring of the fashion show to me. In our first meeting I got an opportunity to anchor in his place with the help of his own script. I did the duty in my style. This occasion led to strengthening our bond,” added Kishan Sharma. Sharma admits the anchoring he did was not of the level of Sayani. The meeting that took place at Bhopal continued afterwards. Sharma and Sayani both kept meeting each other. When Sharma was transferred to Mumbai by AIR, their meetings became a regular feature. “During my marriage, he gave special treatment to ‘Binaca Geetmala’. I am very proud to share that he was so magnanimous that whenever he narrated stories to the listeners on radio, he used to attribute it to me,” recalled Sharma. The words ‘Bahno aur Bhaiyo’ with which Ameen Sayani used to start his announcement was his special style. His style became a benchmark for every announcer or anchor. The anchors or announcers world over always tried to copy his style. Sharma feels, Sayani taught people to talk. Sayani had started writing his biography through one author Ambarish.

 

He had asked Sharma to record his details for which a long video of Sharma was prepared. But Sharma feels regret that there is nobody who could carry the legacy of Sayani. Sayani had his presence in a programme at Nagpur almost over 30 years ago when Dhanwate Rang Mandir existed. Dr Sagar Khadiwala, noted literatteur of Nagpur also met Sayani twice at Mumbai. “I did not have any personal bond with him but I was his die-hard fan. My both meetings with him were memorable.We did not have radio so we used to go at the neighborhood to listen to his Binaca Geetmala. During India’s moon mission in 1969, I distinctly remember Ameenji had translated in Hindi whatever being broadcasted in English. It was fantastic to listen to him.”