Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Journalists I likted most……! Journalists I liked most
Long long ago while studying at Holkar College Indore, one of my Professors in English had remarked,’ an educated person is one who knows how to use a library’. Well, I used to visit a library quite often, sometimes even ‘bunking’ a class, yet my favourite place used to be the ‘reading-room’, where most of the periodicals as well as News-papers from far and wide were displayed. Those included New York Times, the London Times, the Russian ‘Pravda’, as well as most of the Indian leading papers.
I used to be fascinated by the head-lines of those foreign papers, but liked to go through most of the Indian ones. My favourites used to be ‘The Times of India’, the Indian Express, the Hitavaada, besides the Indore dailies Nai-duniya and Jagran. Of course Nai-duniya was the paper we used to subscribe at home, so I didn’t waste my time over that while in the reading room.
Among the weeklies, Blitz, the Illustrated weekly, Patriot (a Communist weekly), Paanchajanya and Observer (the Hindutva ones), Shankar’s weekly (political and satirical) were my favourites. In later years, some Hindi and Marathi ones fascinated me. Among those ‘Dharmayug’ in Hindi and ‘Satyakatha’, Manohar, ‘Maarmik’ and Amrut in Marathi were my frequent reads. (Film-fare, Star-dust’, ‘Reader’s Digest’, ‘Screen’ etc were subscribed at home; but somehow those didn’t fascinate me much).
Some very illustrious names were attached to those dailies or periodicals. And I must gratefully acknowledge those, since it was because of their articles that those papers and periodicals attracted me.
Few of the foremost among those were R.K.Karanjiya, A.F.S.Talliarkhan, Rajendra Mathur, Sardar Khushwant Singh, Coravaanji of Shankar’s weekly, Shrikant and Bal Thakre of the Maarmik, Acharya P.K.Atre of Maratha, and many more besides.
Karanjiya was always my favourit since his piercing, probing, punching style of writing was too attractive to me during my own youth. He had a tremendous command over English, and he used to play on words which was something astonishing. Once he had made pun over the name of Acharya Kripalani (a great freedom fighter and a renowned political figure no doubt) by using the word ‘KripaLOONY!!’ (And he had to face a ‘censure’ motion in front of the Indian Parliament, again the very ‘first’ in Parliamentary history. And while he faced that boldly but serenely, Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru the Prime Minister could not hide his smile and concealed laughter!)
Karanjiya was a born socialist, used to sport big moustaches, a very powerful personality and was a close friend of Nehru. The Head-lines in Blitz used to be in very bold letters, blood-red in colour!
He used to verify most of the times the credentials of a particular news item and then would attack all out, sometimes spitting venom.
Yet sometimes he was required to swallow his own words and writings.
People with short memory might have forgotten the way he first extolled beyond limits a god man who had made tall claims of ‘walking over water’ in the presence of hundreds and thousands of people, claiming that to be a ‘Yogic’ feat. And mind you, it was Blitz, yes Blitz which gave him the maximum publicity. However, the ‘yogic’ demonstration failed and the ‘sanyasi’ fell with a thud in the water at the very first step.
Well, that made Karanjiya to take a U-turn and he began writing venomous over the so-called god men and their likes.
(However, when he personally visited Puttaparthi with an ‘open’ mind and with a view to ‘interview’ Sri Sathya Sai Baba, after a detailed and long ‘interview’ (inner-view), he was convinced and the next issue of Blitz carried a big headline ‘GOD IS AN INDIAN!’ and details of the dialogue he had with Sri Sai baba.
Another name associated with Blitz again was that of ‘Bobby’ TalliarKhan; a sports-writer, his article ‘Knock-out’ was a real treat to read. Excellent sport detail along with his own analytical comments made any one understand the game, as well as its intricacies in minute details. His way of narration was simply superb. Besides a sports writer, he was a gifted ‘commentator’ over All India Radio. He could ‘run’ the commentary all alone on all the five days of a test-match! (The only ones to match his talents were Vijay Merchant, V M Chakrapani, Saradendu Sanyal, Devraj Puri and a few others, as far as ‘live’ cricket commentary were concerned).
He used to write on Foot-ball, Hockey, Soccer etc, besides cricket as well, and as eruditely.
Rajendra Mathur used to write for Nai duniya every week in a column ‘Picchala Saptah’ (‘last-week). A short stature extremely pleasant personality, sporting a smile all the while, he was a giant as far as Journalism was concerned. He began his career as a lecturer in English in Gujarati college Indore (I happen to be his ‘student’ then!), and later rose to be the Editor-in-chief, Nava-Bharat Times Delhi.
His analytical writings of the prevalent political scenario in the country predominantly, as well as that internationally, were indeed marvellous to say the least. We were not only ‘fans’ of that particular article, we had indeed become ‘addicts’. His style of writing was indeed very simple. He never used any epithets before any names, however mighty the person under his pen. Nehru was Nehru and Indiraji was only Indira. Whether it was Babu Rajendra Prasad the Indian President, or Khrushchev, Bulganin, Chou-en-lai, Kennedy or Nixon! He would simply name him or her as such.
However, his political comments were always to the mark; exceptionally straightforward, yet incisively critical and accurate. His writings made us understand the political scenario so well that even ordinary readers like us would feel enthralled.
Illustrated Weekly was quite a prestigious one those days. Sardar Khushwant Singh was its Editor-in-chief. That weekly would certainly catch anybody’s eye, since the topics and stories dealt therein were quite lively and attractive. That weekly, like Blitz used to take up mass education in a rather subtle way. While there was always the glamour of glamorous happenings, the editor would never spare blunders on the part of politicians as well as public figures.
Himself a very colourful and sometimes controversial personality Khushwant Singh was a man of wit and some ‘tangential’ thinking! His writings did appeal to me to some extent (during ‘my’ youth!)
Another figure, whom I never ‘saw’ as such, was ‘Coravaanjee’, a regular feature writer or satirist in the famous Shankar’s Weekly, brought out from Delhi. A cartoon and a very short write up underneath would make most of the politicians and public figures spend restless nights! (Later, after many many years I came to know that ‘Coravaanjee’ was none other than Prof.N.Kasturi, whom I admire most even now!).
Shrikant Thakre and Bal Thakre were two excellent cartoonists. They had launched a weekly in Marathi, named ‘Maarmik’, basically a political satire. Originally it had a very good fervour and flavour. Most of us liked its presentation at that point of time.
It was indeed the cartoons and ‘you said it’ by none other than R.K.Laxman which made the Times of India more so favourable to my liking. And as is everybody’s own experience, one gets addicted to a particular daily. Besides, some of the articles, including the editorials used to be quite educative indeed. Inder Malhotra was a good political commentator therein, so was ‘the speaking tree’ which gave us some quality religious and ethical reading.
I liked ‘the Indian Express too, and some of the views from Arun Shourie. I liked its non-partisan stand as far political comments were concerned.
In Marathi, my favourite periodical was ‘Satya-katha’. I ‘learnt’ to read ‘Nava-Kavita’ which used to be published on a regular basis. Dilip Purushottam Chitre, Mangesh Padgaonkar and the like were its regular contributors. I also read ‘Baa Cee Mardhekar’ there itself. (My brothers and sisters at home used to tease me when I recited those, as ‘Nava-Kavi’, ‘Na-Kavi’ etc!)
The Satya-katha also published some very short stories, usually related to social unrest or the like.
Still during later years when we shifted to Pune Maharashtra, our favourite paper became the daily ‘Sakal’ naturally. Nanasaheb Parulekar had already set high standards for its publication and it has not yet diluted that flavour to a great extent. It was indeed Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak who is recognised as a doyen amongst Journalists, who has etched his name in history for his outright comments and brave and bold presentation. However, ‘Kesari’ of the recent times could not make inroads into me so far!
Besides these names as far as print media are concerned, I have always been fascinated by the likes of the duet Pranav Roy and Vinod Dua; Rajdeep Sardesai; Kumar Ketkar; and last but not the least in Mr.N.A.Palkhiwala, whose post-budget speeches were heard spell bound by thousands of knowledgeable (and not so knowledgeable like me!), who eagerly awaited year after year for those balanced and extremely studious post-mortem of the ‘budget’!!
It is possible that some important names and issues might have been missed. However, this one is only to reiterate my own sense of indebtedness to those who have helped me to ‘become’ whatever I am today, a ‘bewildered’ witness, like the man of Laxman in ‘you said it’!!
19 October 2007 LONDON Dr. (!) P.S.Rahalkar
Long long ago while studying at Holkar College Indore, one of my Professors in English had remarked,’ an educated person is one who knows how to use a library’. Well, I used to visit a library quite often, sometimes even ‘bunking’ a class, yet my favourite place used to be the ‘reading-room’, where most of the periodicals as well as News-papers from far and wide were displayed. Those included New York Times, the London Times, the Russian ‘Pravda’, as well as most of the Indian leading papers.
I used to be fascinated by the head-lines of those foreign papers, but liked to go through most of the Indian ones. My favourites used to be ‘The Times of India’, the Indian Express, the Hitavaada, besides the Indore dailies Nai-duniya and Jagran. Of course Nai-duniya was the paper we used to subscribe at home, so I didn’t waste my time over that while in the reading room.
Among the weeklies, Blitz, the Illustrated weekly, Patriot (a Communist weekly), Paanchajanya and Observer (the Hindutva ones), Shankar’s weekly (political and satirical) were my favourites. In later years, some Hindi and Marathi ones fascinated me. Among those ‘Dharmayug’ in Hindi and ‘Satyakatha’, Manohar, ‘Maarmik’ and Amrut in Marathi were my frequent reads. (Film-fare, Star-dust’, ‘Reader’s Digest’, ‘Screen’ etc were subscribed at home; but somehow those didn’t fascinate me much).
Some very illustrious names were attached to those dailies or periodicals. And I must gratefully acknowledge those, since it was because of their articles that those papers and periodicals attracted me.
Few of the foremost among those were R.K.Karanjiya, A.F.S.Talliarkhan, Rajendra Mathur, Sardar Khushwant Singh, Coravaanji of Shankar’s weekly, Shrikant and Bal Thakre of the Maarmik, Acharya P.K.Atre of Maratha, and many more besides.
Karanjiya was always my favourit since his piercing, probing, punching style of writing was too attractive to me during my own youth. He had a tremendous command over English, and he used to play on words which was something astonishing. Once he had made pun over the name of Acharya Kripalani (a great freedom fighter and a renowned political figure no doubt) by using the word ‘KripaLOONY!!’ (And he had to face a ‘censure’ motion in front of the Indian Parliament, again the very ‘first’ in Parliamentary history. And while he faced that boldly but serenely, Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru the Prime Minister could not hide his smile and concealed laughter!)
Karanjiya was a born socialist, used to sport big moustaches, a very powerful personality and was a close friend of Nehru. The Head-lines in Blitz used to be in very bold letters, blood-red in colour!
He used to verify most of the times the credentials of a particular news item and then would attack all out, sometimes spitting venom.
Yet sometimes he was required to swallow his own words and writings.
People with short memory might have forgotten the way he first extolled beyond limits a god man who had made tall claims of ‘walking over water’ in the presence of hundreds and thousands of people, claiming that to be a ‘Yogic’ feat. And mind you, it was Blitz, yes Blitz which gave him the maximum publicity. However, the ‘yogic’ demonstration failed and the ‘sanyasi’ fell with a thud in the water at the very first step.
Well, that made Karanjiya to take a U-turn and he began writing venomous over the so-called god men and their likes.
(However, when he personally visited Puttaparthi with an ‘open’ mind and with a view to ‘interview’ Sri Sathya Sai Baba, after a detailed and long ‘interview’ (inner-view), he was convinced and the next issue of Blitz carried a big headline ‘GOD IS AN INDIAN!’ and details of the dialogue he had with Sri Sai baba.
Another name associated with Blitz again was that of ‘Bobby’ TalliarKhan; a sports-writer, his article ‘Knock-out’ was a real treat to read. Excellent sport detail along with his own analytical comments made any one understand the game, as well as its intricacies in minute details. His way of narration was simply superb. Besides a sports writer, he was a gifted ‘commentator’ over All India Radio. He could ‘run’ the commentary all alone on all the five days of a test-match! (The only ones to match his talents were Vijay Merchant, V M Chakrapani, Saradendu Sanyal, Devraj Puri and a few others, as far as ‘live’ cricket commentary were concerned).
He used to write on Foot-ball, Hockey, Soccer etc, besides cricket as well, and as eruditely.
Rajendra Mathur used to write for Nai duniya every week in a column ‘Picchala Saptah’ (‘last-week). A short stature extremely pleasant personality, sporting a smile all the while, he was a giant as far as Journalism was concerned. He began his career as a lecturer in English in Gujarati college Indore (I happen to be his ‘student’ then!), and later rose to be the Editor-in-chief, Nava-Bharat Times Delhi.
His analytical writings of the prevalent political scenario in the country predominantly, as well as that internationally, were indeed marvellous to say the least. We were not only ‘fans’ of that particular article, we had indeed become ‘addicts’. His style of writing was indeed very simple. He never used any epithets before any names, however mighty the person under his pen. Nehru was Nehru and Indiraji was only Indira. Whether it was Babu Rajendra Prasad the Indian President, or Khrushchev, Bulganin, Chou-en-lai, Kennedy or Nixon! He would simply name him or her as such.
However, his political comments were always to the mark; exceptionally straightforward, yet incisively critical and accurate. His writings made us understand the political scenario so well that even ordinary readers like us would feel enthralled.
Illustrated Weekly was quite a prestigious one those days. Sardar Khushwant Singh was its Editor-in-chief. That weekly would certainly catch anybody’s eye, since the topics and stories dealt therein were quite lively and attractive. That weekly, like Blitz used to take up mass education in a rather subtle way. While there was always the glamour of glamorous happenings, the editor would never spare blunders on the part of politicians as well as public figures.
Himself a very colourful and sometimes controversial personality Khushwant Singh was a man of wit and some ‘tangential’ thinking! His writings did appeal to me to some extent (during ‘my’ youth!)
Another figure, whom I never ‘saw’ as such, was ‘Coravaanjee’, a regular feature writer or satirist in the famous Shankar’s Weekly, brought out from Delhi. A cartoon and a very short write up underneath would make most of the politicians and public figures spend restless nights! (Later, after many many years I came to know that ‘Coravaanjee’ was none other than Prof.N.Kasturi, whom I admire most even now!).
Shrikant Thakre and Bal Thakre were two excellent cartoonists. They had launched a weekly in Marathi, named ‘Maarmik’, basically a political satire. Originally it had a very good fervour and flavour. Most of us liked its presentation at that point of time.
It was indeed the cartoons and ‘you said it’ by none other than R.K.Laxman which made the Times of India more so favourable to my liking. And as is everybody’s own experience, one gets addicted to a particular daily. Besides, some of the articles, including the editorials used to be quite educative indeed. Inder Malhotra was a good political commentator therein, so was ‘the speaking tree’ which gave us some quality religious and ethical reading.
I liked ‘the Indian Express too, and some of the views from Arun Shourie. I liked its non-partisan stand as far political comments were concerned.
In Marathi, my favourite periodical was ‘Satya-katha’. I ‘learnt’ to read ‘Nava-Kavita’ which used to be published on a regular basis. Dilip Purushottam Chitre, Mangesh Padgaonkar and the like were its regular contributors. I also read ‘Baa Cee Mardhekar’ there itself. (My brothers and sisters at home used to tease me when I recited those, as ‘Nava-Kavi’, ‘Na-Kavi’ etc!)
The Satya-katha also published some very short stories, usually related to social unrest or the like.
Still during later years when we shifted to Pune Maharashtra, our favourite paper became the daily ‘Sakal’ naturally. Nanasaheb Parulekar had already set high standards for its publication and it has not yet diluted that flavour to a great extent. It was indeed Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak who is recognised as a doyen amongst Journalists, who has etched his name in history for his outright comments and brave and bold presentation. However, ‘Kesari’ of the recent times could not make inroads into me so far!
Besides these names as far as print media are concerned, I have always been fascinated by the likes of the duet Pranav Roy and Vinod Dua; Rajdeep Sardesai; Kumar Ketkar; and last but not the least in Mr.N.A.Palkhiwala, whose post-budget speeches were heard spell bound by thousands of knowledgeable (and not so knowledgeable like me!), who eagerly awaited year after year for those balanced and extremely studious post-mortem of the ‘budget’!!
It is possible that some important names and issues might have been missed. However, this one is only to reiterate my own sense of indebtedness to those who have helped me to ‘become’ whatever I am today, a ‘bewildered’ witness, like the man of Laxman in ‘you said it’!!
19 October 2007 LONDON Dr. (!) P.S.Rahalkar
