Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan

Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan (New Life (Urdu) New Life (Hindi)[notes 1]) was a BBC television programme broadcast from 1968 until 1982.

Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan
Presented byMahendra Kaul and Saleem Shahed
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageHindi and Urdu
Production
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release24 October 1968 (1968-10-24) –
13 June 1982 (1982-06-13)
Chronology
Preceded byApna Hi Ghar Samajhiye
Followed byAsian Magazine

It was the first major programme for Hindi and Urdu-speaking viewers, and represented the beginnings of regular broadcasting in the UK for non-native English speakers. Until that point, all BBC programmes had assumed an English or Welsh-speaking audience.

Each programme included domestic and international news (including that from the Indian sub-continent). Cultural and current affairs interviews were also included, and so were music performances. It was presented by Mahendra Kaul and Saleem Shahed, amongst others.

Usually broadcast at the beginning of programmes on BBC1 on Sundays, it was occasionally repeated on BBC Two during the week, and was produced in Birmingham. By the time of its demise in April 1982, the BBC Asian Programmes Unit (APU) was a well-established provider of Asian-language programmes across the BBC network.

Asian programmes on BBC television began at 9:00am on Sunday 10 October 1965 on BBC One with In Logon Se Miliye ("Let me introduce you to these people").[1] In January 1966 this was replaced with Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye ("Make Yourself At Home"), which also ran on Sunday mornings on BBC Radio 4. In November 1968 this programme was replaced on television with Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan.

In 1977, a companion programme aimed at Asian women, Gharbar, was launched. The programme had only been intended to run for 26 weeks but continued for 10 years, finally ending in April 1987.[2]

A tribute to the television programme appeared on the top-twenty album Community Music (2000) by electronica band Asian Dub Foundation. The lyrics to the fourth song on the album, "New Way, New Life", credited numerous members of the band, who described growing up in families of Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan fans.

Notes
  1. The title was often incorrectly translated as 'New Way, New Life'

References
  1. "Immigrants feel at home with BBC". BBC On This Day. 4 October 1965. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  2. BBC Genome Project – BBC2 listings 19 October 1977
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