Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan


Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan New Life ) was a BBC television programme broadcast from 1968 until 1982.
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. 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 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. In January 1966 this was replaced with Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye, 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.
A tribute to the television programme appeared on the top-twenty album Community Music 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.