Everyday, millions of people use the Delhi metro to commute. Among different people travelling in different directions, what remains constant is the voice behind the announcements. The voices are ever-so calm and convey their point firmly.
Ever wondered who are the people behind these voices? Meet Shammi Narang and Rini Simon Khanna – the people behind the magic voices in the metro:
Shammi Narang
The deep baritone that guides us in Hindi throughout our journey is that of Shammi Narang, an engineering post-graduate from IIT, Delhi.
Narang was 19 and strolling around in the IIT campus when a foreigner engineer, who was testing a microphone, called him to sound test it. Little did Narang know that this was going to be a life-changing event for him. That engineer was the technical director at United States Information Service (USIS) and gave him a chance at the Hindi division of Voice of America.
Source: youtube.com
From there on, Narang did not look back and went on to become the face of Doordarshan, the only channel back in the 70s. He was selected from among 10,000 people to read news at Doordarshan.
Rini Simon Khanna
She is the face behind Delhi Metro’s sharp female voice with a rich texture and makes announcements in perfect diction.
Rini Simon Khanna was born in Kerala. Because of her father being an Indian Air Force officer, she finished her schooling from almost 9 different schools across the country. She worked with Doordarshan from 1985-2001 and was a noted news anchor, and later worked as a voice over artist and anchor for various events.
Source: caravanmagazine.in
So, the next time you hear a metro announcement, you know who the face behind it is!
