“KN”, who wallowed in verbiage day and night by virtue of his profession, was himself a man of few words. He was associated with The Hindu for nearly five decades and I worked with him for over three decades! Never once during our entire relationship did he give me the feeling that I was in a different Department. No silos, no air of superiority and suave but demanding of work as if I was reporting to him on an official basis. I enjoyed the treatment thoroughly and thus learnt to gradually despatch stories to The Hindu Group publications on various subjects over the years.
KN would call at any time of the day or night — no apology, no dilly-dallying. He would straightaway come down to what he wanted and did not wait for an answer! On a midnight during a period when Calcutta was in its wonted throes of violence, he called me and wanted me to procure the day’s Racing results from my contacts with The Statesman and rush them to the Sports Desk – all the sports correspondents in Calcutta were on a strike.
I rushed out despite protests from my mother and drove down to Chowringhee in great speed. I went gingerly through the dimly lit corridors of The Statesman and met the sports sub-editor on duty to help me out. Fortunately, he knew me and was in a pliant mood. He swore me to secrecy and asked me to quit immediately after handing over a copy of the results. I rushed to The Hindu office about five minutes away, but the watchmen would not let me in as I was dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a dark tee-shirt! I pleaded with him as I was running out of time. I rushed upstairs, opened the teleprinter and “creeded” (then in usage) the copy. The next morning I was expecting a bouquet from KN. What was it? A cryptic note as usual in KN-speak: “Kali, can always count on you.”
I began to work even closer with KN when he helmed the pages of Frontline and would constantly ask me for market feedback, apart from co-ordinating special articles from outside sources and contacting special photographers like Pablo Bartholomew and Raghu Rai.
Before he left the city and decided to move into a senior citizens’ home in Coimbatore, he gave me a call, and perhaps, for the first time, spoke quite a few words! Shall miss him and his unassuming personality.
V. Kalidas
(Retd. Vice-President, Advt., The Hindu)
