The 50th anniversary of the inception of terrestrial television in India provided the occasion for one of Doordarshan’s most famous faces, Salma Sultan, to enter the studios of the satellite whipper-snappers.
Talking to Barkha Dutt on NDTV 24×7, Ms Sultan recounted the harrowing experience of having to read from the teleprompter and the challenge of having to correct the script even while reading from it.
“Once the prompter was supposed to read: Purane zamane mein auraton ko band kar rakhthe the (in the olden days, the women used to be held in purdah).
“But some letters were transposed and there was a spelling mistake. The prompter read: Purane zamane mein auraton ko bandar khathe the (in the olden days, monkeys used to eat up women).
“We had to correct and edit ourselves on our fly. But there was great energy and bonding, and I cherish those memories even today.”
Photograph: courtesy The Hindu
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IJR 
Happy 50th! Hopefully Indian terrestrial TV hasn’t degenerated to the same degree its UK counterpart has.
😎
It has, it has, my friend. It has. Far lower than you think. You didn’t think we will allow you, our former masters, to undertake us now, did you?
Her name is salma sultan and not salman sultan.