Venu Chitale

Leelabhai Ganesh Khare

Bombay/Mumbai

1937–50

Venu Chitale was a talks broadcaster and assistant to George Orwell at the BBC’s Indian Section of the Eastern Service. She arrived in Britain in the mid-1930s. She had come to Britain with her teacher in Poona, Winnie Duplex, to study at University College, London.

She joined the BBC in 1940 when the service expanded to broadcast in different Indian languages including Marathi, her mother tongue. From 1941 Chitale worked with Orwell as a talks programme assistant for the BBC Indian Section of the Eastern Service from 1941 to 1943. She broadcast on his series of talks Through Eastern Eyes as well as his 1942 magazine programme Voice. She also broadcast as part of the series of talks The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, which focused on the role of women in the war effort. Like Indira Devi of Kapurthala, she also broadcast on the Home Service, where she served as a newsreader at the height of the war. She contributed to programmes such as 'Indian Recipes' and the Kitchen Front series, which was produced by Jean Rowntree. Orwell was particularly impressed by Chitale and she was often complimented for her speaking voice. She became a full-time member of staff as the Marathi programme assistant in 1942.

While in London, Chitale also became involved with the India League and forged a close relationship with Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister. She returned to India in 1950 and married Professor T. G. Khare. She published several novels and died in 1995.