The first episode of Meet The Voice, a three part docu-series that profiles railway announcers, was released on November 12. Directed by Disha Rindani, the episode features Sarala Chaudhari, whose voice guides commuters through the super dense crush load on Mumbai’s local railway platforms.
The seven-minute episode uncovers the story of how Chaudhari came to be an announcer for the Central Railway. It all began when her father, also a Railways employee, received a circular in his office, Sarala recalls in the film. “The Indian Railways was recruiting employees’ children for a three month-trial in the announcements department,” she says. “I thought those three months would be a good way to kill time.”
Sarala began her job on July 13, 1982. She recalls how people would flock to the announcers’ room to see how they did their jobs.
Disha Rindani also interviews Chaudhari’s husband and children, who speak about the pride they feel when they hear Sarala’s voice as they are waiting to board a local train. Produced by Jai Mehta and Sharmila Ganguli, the series will air the next two episodes on November 19 and November 26. These episodes will feature railway announcers Ganesh and Vishnu.