Turaga Janaki Rani Biography 
Turaga Janaki Rani was a broadcaster, social activist and a writer from Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. She was associated with All India Radio as a broadcaster for two decades since 1974. She was fondly called Radio Akkayya, which literally translates as Radio Sister or Radio elder sister. She was a Bharatnatyam dancer, who performed on stage and choreographed ballets for Doordarshan. As a writer she contributed three short story collections, three novels, five books for children and also a collection of radio plays and features. She passed away on 15 October 2014.
Turaga Janaki Rani was born on August 31, 1936 in Machilipatnam, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. She completed her studies in her hometown before she began her career as Welfare Officer in Central Social Welfare Board in 1958. The following year she got married to Krishna Mohan Rao, and had two daughters. She also did a certified course in Madras School of Social Work, and had a brief stint in social service also. She also worked as an editor of a magazine during this period.
She joined All India Radio in 1974 as producer and as a broadcaster earned a lot of fame and popularity. She retired from AIR in 1994, after a long association of 20 years. She retired as Assistant Station Director at Hyderabad. During her stint with AIR she has handled different kind of roles, and has successfully produced many shows. The broadcaster also earned the nickname, Radio Akkayya. She handled the planning, production, and presentation departments of programmes for two decades. She also produced audio cassettes for NCERT pre-school children. She was also a social activist and published many books. Her books have been translated to different languages.
Published: October 16, 2018
Updated: October 16, 2018
