Background
Anand was born in London, England, to Pakistani Hindu parents from the North West Frontier, bordering on Afghanistan.
Anand was born in London, England, to Pakistani Hindu parents from the North West Frontier, bordering on Afghanistan.
Anand was educated at Bancroft"s School, where her contemporaries included Nina Mackay.
Anand then entered King"s College London in 1990 graduating with a Bachelor in English in 1993. After training as a journalist, Anand became European Head of News and Current Affairs for Zee television, and one of the youngest television news editors in Britain at the age of 25. She presented the talk show The Big Debate, and was political correspondent for Zee television presenting the Raj Britannia series – 31 documentaries chronicling the political aspirations of the Asian community in the most marginal constituencies in 1997.
Until October 2007, Anand presented in the 10pm till 1am slot on Monday to Thursdays on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 5 Live.
She went on to co-present the station"s weekday "Drive" (16:00–19:00) slot with Peter Allen, having replaced Jane Garvey in 2007. Aasmah Mir replaced her when she left for maternity leave.
Anand has presented the British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 show Mid Week, which goes out on Wednesday mornings between 9:00 & 9:45 a.m. and on television, Anand has been a presenter on the Heaven and Earth Show. She has co-presented the Daily Politics on British Broadcasting Corporation Two with Andrew Neil from September 2008, with a break for maternity leave from January to September 2010.
Anand has also written articles for India Today and The Asian Age newspaper, and used to write a regular column in The Guardian (′Anita Anand"s Diary′ 2004 - 2005).
In July 2011 Anand left the Daily Politics to present a new show called Double Take on Radio 5 Live on Sunday mornings. In June 2012, Anand took over presenting Radio 4"s Any Answers? Saturday current affairs phone-in programme between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m. from Jonathan Dimbleby who continues to present the phone-in"s sister programme, Any Questions?.