THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former senior Malayalm news reader of All India Radio, Gopinathan Nair aka Gopan, 79, passed away in New Delhi following cardiac arrest on Monday. He had worked with the national broadcaster for nearly 39 years.
His voice was very familiar to each Malayalees as he was the man behind the famous ‘swasakosam sponge polayanu’ radio spot (‘The lung is like a sponge’), brought out by the Centre as part of its anti-tobacco campaign. The highly successful ad made his voice familiar to even kids. He was with AIR Delhi from 1962 to 2001.