Arsala Khan/New Delhi

During her sojourn in Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where over tea sessions at its famous dhaba students enaged in debates on issues like gender and nutrition, a petite MPhil student would have never imagined that one day her voice would reach the living rooms of millions of homes.

She is today the well-known news anchor, Naghma Sahar. Looking back, Naghma herself is surprised at the turn of events in her life. The journey from the picturesque JNU campus to the world of television screens feels nothing short of magical. Behind it lie years of hard work, the ground reporting, and determination to prove herself.

Patna-born Naghma left a mark in television journalism at a time when newsrooms were not particularly welcoming spaces for women. From Patna, she moved to Delhi for higher education. After studying at the Delhi School of Economics, she completed her MPhil from JNU. Her area of study was “Gender and Nutrition.”

The subject gave her a perspective on social disparities that the camera often fails to catch. She also received a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in the field of rural development and worked on projects with international agencies like the Population Council. This academic experience became the backbone of her journalism.

Naghma began her career with Asian Age newspaper in 1999 but soon moved to television. At that time, women in TV newsrooms were often assigned “soft beats” or entertainment-related stories. But Naghma refused to confine herself to that limited space.

In 2003, she began a new phase of her career with NDTV India. There, along with prime-time anchoring, she also did reporting.

Naghma with her family

When the tsunami wreaked havoc in Tamil Nadu, Naghma spent 15 days in the affected areas. She noticed the pain in the eyes of those who had lost everything. Whether it was the screams of the Mumbai train blasts, elections in Kashmir, or the historic launch of the Delhi–Lahore bus service, Naghma was present.

Her narration was always simple and gentle, her questions were sharp, direct, and probing.

Naghma Sahar’s most talked-about show, Salaam Zindagi, was like a breath of fresh air in the news world. While most channels were chasing sensationalism, Naghma used this show to bring the issues of the marginalized groups such as the transgender community, drug addicts, and discriminated to the mainstream news.

She never allowed people in her stories to become a spectacle; Instead, she upheld dignity of those whose stories she narrated. This is why Salaam Zindagi was popular and set a new benchmark in Televsion journalism.

During election coverage too, Naghma’s approach stands out. Through programs like Election Express and Vote Yatra, she traveled across the country by bus for weeks. She reached dusty villages and small towns tocatch the pulse of the nation. She highlighted issues like women’s safety, unemployment, and development, which are often lost in the din of election rallies and political debates.

Today, Naghma, 52, is a senior Editor with the NDTV anchors a popular program International Agenda. In this show, she explains complex global politics in a simple language for the interest of a common viewer. Whether the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or India’s evolving role at the United Nations, Naghma presents every global development through an Indian lens.

She is not just a news anchor, but also the voice of a Muslim woman who maintains a fine balance between modernity and tradition. She has always spoken out boldly on issues like triple talaq, Muslim women’s education, and social equality. She believes that no society can truly progress unless women are equal partners in it.

Naghma Sahar with her daughter

In her personal life, Naghma Sahar comes from an educated Muslim family. Her two sisters, Reshma and Saima, are also successful in their respective fields. She is married to Rajiv Srivastava, and both have a daughter Ira Tazin.

Even amid the chaos of the newsroom and the stress of prime time, Naghma never forgets to make time for her family. She loves traveling, photography, swimming, and reading books—hobbies that help her maintain the balance so essential for a journalist.

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Naghma Sahar demonstrated that a journalist must first and foremost be a sensitive human being. This journey, which began in the lanes of JNU, has today reached the international news desk, yet Naghma’s simplicity and grace remain unchanged.