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{{Short description|Indian radio broadcaster (died 2020)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Indira Joseph Venniyoor
| birth_name = Indira Poduval
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|94|2020|12|29|noage=1}}
| birth_place = [[Travancore]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and given age|df=y|2020|12|29|94}}
| death_place = [[Poojappura]], [[Kerala]], India
| occupation = Radio broadcaster
| alma_mater = [[Queen Mary's College, Chennai|Queen Mary's College]]
| known_for =
| spouse = {{marriage|E. M. J. Venniyoor|1954|1984|end=d}}
| children = 3
}}

'''Indira Joseph Venniyoor''' (born '''Indira Poduval'''; 1925/1926 – 29 December 2020) was an Indian radio broadcaster and Travancore Radio's first English-language news broadcaster. She was a broadcaster with [[All India Radio]] until her retirement in 1984.

== Early life ==
Venniyoor was born in the state of [[Travancore]] (in modern-day [[Kerala]], India) into the Ambady house, a high caste Hindu family.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Menon|first=Ravi|title="Call us Indira and Francesca"; how 'Moby Dick' united two souls separated by seas|url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/books/books-news/-call-us-indira-and-francesca-how-moby-dick-united-two-souls-separated-by-seas-1.3614127|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Mathrubhumi|language=en|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727213827/https://english.mathrubhumi.com/books/books-news/-call-us-indira-and-francesca-how-moby-dick-united-two-souls-separated-by-seas-1.3614127|url-status=live}}</ref> Her father Vasudeva Poduval was a superintendent of archaeology with the state of Travancore and later the director of the archaeological museum.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last1=updusr5|date=1 March 2020|title=This is tvm. You will now hear the news read by Indira Poduval : ആള്‍ ഇന്ത്യാ റേഡിയോയിലെ പ്രസിദ്ധമായ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വാര്‍ത്താപ്രക്ഷേപണം|url=https://www.keralawomen.gov.in/index.php/ml/node/292|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Kerala Women|language=ml|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922133511/https://keralawomen.gov.in/index.php/ml/node/292|url-status=live}}</ref> She moved with her family to [[Thiruvananthapuram]] at the age of 17. Recalling her childhood, she would later say that her family would host visitors like the Russian painter [[Svetoslav Roerich]], American art historian [[Stella Kramrisch]], and other English speakers at home, instilling in her a love for the language.<ref name=":3"/>

She graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts in Economics]] degree with [[honours degree|honours]] from [[Queen Mary's College, Chennai|Queen Mary's College]] in [[Madras]] (now Chennai).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=ടി.ആര്‍.രമ്യ|title=അനന്തപുരിയുടെ ഇഷ്ട ശബ്ദം മാഞ്ഞു, ഇനി ചരിത്രം ബാക്കി|url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/women/news/veteran-broadcaster-indira-joseph-venniyoor-passes-away-1.5317993|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Mathrubhumi|language=en|archive-date=30 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230082508/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/women/news/veteran-broadcaster-indira-joseph-venniyoor-passes-away-1.5317993|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Career ==
Venniyoor (then Poduval) graduated around the time when [[C. P. Ramaswami Iyer]], [[Dewan]] of the state of Travancore, was establishing Travancore Radio with a dedicated [[low-power broadcasting]] studio. She submitted her application to the then–chief minister of [[Travancore–Cochin]], [[Paravoor T. K. Narayana Pillai]], and was selected for the job.<ref name=":2" /> When the station started broadcasting in 1949, she began as the announcer, and was its first English-language news broadcaster.<ref name=":2" /> As per the proceedings in the then legislature of the [[State of Travancore and Cochin]], she was paid 69 [[Indian rupee|rupees]] (then equivalent to US$14.50) for her job as a news broadcaster in 1949.{{efn|In 1949, 4.76 Indian rupees were equivalent to 1 United States dollar.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Busting The Myth: Re 1 Was Not Equal To $1 In 1947|url=https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/busting-the-myth-re-1-was-not-equal-to-1-in-1947-2359873.html|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Moneycontrol|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101065045/https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/busting-the-myth-re-1-was-not-equal-to-1-in-1947-2359873.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Johri|first1=Devika|last2=Miller|first2=Mark|title=Devaluation of the Rupee: Tale of Two Years, 1966 and 1991|url=https://ccs.in/internship_papers/2002/28.pdf|journal=Center for Civil Society – Working Papers|access-date=30 December 2020|archive-date=25 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225054406/https://ccs.in/internship_papers/2002/28.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROoWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Indira+poduval%22|title=Proceedings; Official Report|date=1949|language=ml|access-date=7 December 2021|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207181038/https://books.google.com/books?id=ROoWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Indira+poduval%22|url-status=live}}</ref> When Travancore Radio became a part of [[All India Radio]] (AIR) in [[Trivandrum]] on 1 April 1950, she went on to broadcast from the Bhakti Vilas palace, where the AIR station shifted to from its earlier location at the Vazhuthakatte MLA Quarters building.<ref name=":2" />

Her signature starting note, "This is Trivandrum. You will now hear the news read by Indira Poduval", was a characteristic of her daily 7 pm radio broadcasts.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=30 December 2020|title=Veteran broadcaster Indira Joseph Venniyoor passes away|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/veteran-broadcaster-indira-joseph-venniyoor-passes-away/article33448982.ece|access-date=30 December 2020|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=4 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704151208/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/veteran-broadcaster-indira-joseph-venniyoor-passes-away/article33448982.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> With radio still out of reach from the homes of many of the common people, people would throng the [[Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium]] where the news would be broadcast on public speakers.<ref name=":5" /> She cited English broadcasters from All India Radio Delhi, [[Melville de Mellow]], and Roshan Menon as her inspiration.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=ടി.ആര്‍.രമ്യ|title=ഇന്ദിരാവാണി|url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/women/features/indira-poduval-1.2902865|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Mathrubhumi|language=en|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727204051/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/women/features/indira-poduval-1.2902865|url-status=live}}</ref> She continued working with All India Radio until her retirement as a program executive in 1984.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Travancore Radio's first English newscaster Indira Joseph no more|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2020/dec/30/travancore-radios-first-englishnewscaster-indira-joseph-no-more-2242880.html|access-date=30 December 2020|website=The New Indian Express|archive-date=16 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116041530/https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2020/dec/30/travancore-radios-first-englishnewscaster-indira-joseph-no-more-2242880.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

She was a noted connoisseur of music and the performing arts, and was known to have encouraged emerging artists during her time at All India Radio.<ref name=":0" />

== Personal life ==
Venniyoor met her future husband, art critic and author [[E. M. J. Venniyoor]], when he was a program assistant at All India Radio when they produced the show ''Rasagolam'' together.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=ആള്‍ ഇന്ത്യാ റേഡിയോയിലെ പെണ്‍ശബ്ദം -ഇന്ദിരാപൊതുവാള്‍|url=https://nanaonline.in/news-feeds/female-voice-in-all-india-radio-indira-poduval/|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Nanaonline|language=en-GB|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727223710/https://nanaonline.in/news-feeds/female-voice-in-all-india-radio-indira-poduval/|url-status=live}}</ref> They married in 1954 and had three sons.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> Recalling the marriage of an upper-caste Hindu to a Christian, she would say, "He was adept at English; and that's what drew us close."<ref name=":3" /> Her husband died in 1984 when he was a station director with All India Radio in Bombay.<ref name=":1" />

Her sister was the Malayalam singer [[Santha P. Nair]].<ref name=":1" />

Venniyoor died on 29 December 2020 at her home in [[Poojappura]], in the Indian state of Kerala, at the age of 94.<ref name=":0" />

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venniyoor, Indira Joseph}}

[[Category:1920s births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian radio presenters]]
[[Category:Indian women radio presenters]]
[[Category:Women from Kerala]]
[[Category:Anna University alumni]]
[[Category:All India Radio women]]

Indira Joseph Venniyoor - Revision history

FredrickGreig: Put up a entry initial version.