CEO PB SALUTES ICONIC RADIO BROADCASTER SURJIT SEN ON HIS DEMISE.....

A day after August 15, 1947, 22-year-old Surajit Sen walked into All India Radio and was offered a newscaster’s job. This young man went on to become the voice of radio, decades before the advent of TV, and later, the high-decibel entry of private television channels. In the old days when radio ruled the waves, it was Sen’s instantly recognisable voice that set the tone for national celebrations; and a wonderfully mellow tone it was, old-timers remember, soothing the nation’s nerves amid the uncertainties and upheavals of new nationhood.

Sen started out in the army, spending a couple of years there, until a superior gave him a friendly tip. “I was told I was wasting my time in the army, and would end up as a colonel or brigadier, whereas on radio my reputation would be unsurpassed.” So he joined AIR, turning down an offer from the BBC.Beside being a newscaster, Sen also recorded many important historical events throughout his career, yet today he struggles to retrieve them from his memory. In fact, he was the first foreign correspondent to reach Dhaka after Pakistan surrendered in 1971 and interview the top political leaders of newly-founded Bangladesh. He remembers volunteering to go when others refused, and came back with scores of interviews.

PB Parivar salutes the Surajit Sen for his contribution to All India Radio and pray god to rest his soul in peace