Mahendra Nath Kaul (28 July 1922 – 11 July 2018) was a British television presenter for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Asian Unit.
Kaul was born in
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
,
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
in northern
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and was a
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...
. He was a presenter for Radio Kashmir from 1948 and then the
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All a ...
. He became a presenter for
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
in Washington DC, and also wrote India-related speeches for
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
. He moved to the UK as a
non-resident Indian
Overseas Indians ( IAST: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are Indians who live outside of the Republic of India. According to the Government of India, ''Non-Resident Indians'' are citizens of In ...
(
NRI
NRI or Nri may refer to :
* Kingdom of Nri, an Igbo kingdom that flourished between the 10th century and early 20th century
* National Radio Institute, a now defunct post-secondary vocational correspondence school
* National Resources Inventory
* N ...
) in 1961 to work for the BBC. He presented the programme
Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye
''Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye'' (''Make Yourself at Home'') was a BBC television and radio programme, presented in Hindustani, with the aim of helping immigrants from South Asia to the United Kingdom to become integrated.
The programme was announc ...
("Make Yourself At Home") and then
Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan
''Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan'' (''New Life'' (Urdu) ''New Life'' (Hindi)The title was often incorrectly translated as 'New Way, New Life') was a BBC television programme broadcast from 1968 until 1982.
It was the first major programme for Hindi a ...
, meaning ('New Life' in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
of
South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
heritage primarily spoke other languages, such as Punjabi,
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
or
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, but the programmes were presented in a mix of simple Hindi and simple Urdu, dubbed Hindustani, which it was hoped would be widely understood.
Kaul was made an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in the
1975 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 6 June 1975 for ...
, for services to race relations, and was the first British Asian to receive one. He also received the
Commonwealth Green Pennant
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...
from the
Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...
, after participating in COMEX 10. Kaul received the Community Service Award at the Asian Voice Political & Public Life Awards 2014, from
Baroness Boothroyd
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
at the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
.
Besides broadcasting, Kaul was also a prominent restaurateur. He was the Chairman of India's Restaurants Limited in London, and opened the United Kingdom's first
tandoori
A tandoor ( or ) is a large urn-shaped oven, usually made of clay, originating from the Indian Subcontinent. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti and naan, as well as to roast meat. The tandoor ...
restaurant,
Gaylord
Gaylord is a name of Norman French origin, from the Old French ''gaillard'' meaning "joyful" or "high-spirited". It may refer to:
People
*Gaylord (given name)
Surname
*Bill Gaylord (born 1967), British former alpine skier
*Charles Gaylord (1936 ...
on
Mortimer Street
Mortimer Street is a street in the City of Westminster. It runs from the junction of Cavendish Place, Langham Place, and Regent Street in the west, to the junction of Cleveland Street, Goodge Street, and Newman Street in the east. It is join ...
,
Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...
in 1966. This became very successful, leading to the opening of many more restaurants around the world, working alongside
Hari Harilela
Hari Naroomal Harilela, (10 August 1922 – 29 December 2014) was a Hong Kong Indian businessman, hotelier and philanthropist and the founder and chairman of the Harilela Group. The group runs businesses ranging from hotel and real estate inve ...
among others.
He died a few weeks before his 96th birthday. He was survived by his wife Rajni, a broadcaster and librarian, and their daughter, the barrister and judge Kalyani Kaul QC and grandchildren Symran and Callum. Rajni Kaul died on 31 August 2021.