“She walked with Seers, but always had her feet firmly on the ground”
By Dr Balram Misra
It was shocking to know of the sad demise of Mrs. Indu Jain, Chairperson of the Times of India Group, on 13th May 2021. It was nice to meet her in the early part of the decade of 2010. I was working in Delhi as the chief of the Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra, an RSS media centre. As usual, a large section of media appeared to be prone to adulterate any positive news pertaining to RSS and Bharat with their subtle antagonism. So, it was decided to meet the heads of various media groups, and news persons of various newspapers, and discuss with them the objectionable reports published by them.
It is a sad reality that media of the post-Independence India had almost ceased to stick to their missionary zeal, and yielded to professionalism. Their overall control remained in the hands of alien powers that controlled the media barons and journalists. The vocabulary and the contents of any news pertaining to RSS and Bharat were sought to be approved by the real owners of the papers.
With the prevailing TINA syndrome ‘Times of India’ remained as one of the welcome newspapers, but it never stopped betraying its true anti-RSS and anti-Bharat proclivities, as it does even today.
So, an appointment was fixed for a meeting of Dr. Indresh Kumar, a senior RSS functionary, with the TOI Chairperson, Mrs. Indu Jain. I accompanied Indresh Kumar to her place, a place adorned with simplicity, frugality and indeed, with the freeze of divinity, accommodated with her beauteous grace, compassion and light. With folded hands, and benevolent smile, she welcomed us.
Dr. Indresh Kumar narrated the purpose of his visit, and a brief account of what RSS has been doing for the nation. She was very happy to hear about the RSS from him. I was eager to tell her certain instances of biased and bad reporting by her reporters, how the main aim of TOI appeared to be money making, often at the cost of truth and overall national interests.
It was a fairly long list, so to cut short she said, “I am aware of the reasons that cause your concern, indeed the concern of everyone, but quite often, I feel a little helpless. I know the extra zeal of some of my staff members, whose main concern is to increase the circulation, and their ever readiness to boost their political agenda, which we intend to avoid. Their political nuances are so subtly and inseparably inbuilt in some news items that they manage to reach the readers. Unfortunately, they run a lobby that threatens strikes quite often. We are trying to address that issue”. Gladly, and thankfully, we took leave of her.
Next day I got a phone call from Indu Jain, asking me detailed about the working of the Vishwa Samvad Kendra. I explained to her how RSS had ignited some very senior functionaries like M. G. Vaidya and Shri Kant Joshi to look after the media issues, all-India chain of the Vishwa Samvad Kendras, how every Prant had its kendras, which publish bulletins, brochures, gazetteers and, periodicals in different languages. I told her how the Prachar Pramukhs at Vibhag levels, countrywide, adopted practically all the newspapers and TV channels to spot the noticeable news items and report them to the respective Vishwa Samvad Kendras, which, in turn take suitable action to deal with the news. I told her how some newspapers, including TOI, cooked and managed news items, which suited their editors and owners. I told her the solid instances of the published non-existent news, and how skillfully the smart news persons converted the views of their masters to news items that grabbed prime space on page 3, if not page 1.
She appreciated the zealots of RSS Missionaries in the media field, and asked me a very direct question, “I am really very glad to know the way you all deal with news. It must be very costly affair. I am prepared to subscribe “das–bees”, whenever you require.”
I had heard about her benevolence, magnificence and philanthropic attitude, but I also knew that in RSS-working such attributes carried no importance, as such type of subscriptions and donations were never accepted since the very inception of RSS. Many such instances flared in my mind, so very politely I replied, “Thank you, Bahinji. We are very simple ground sitters in our Shakhas, which teaches frugality and parsimony. We do not accept such subscriptions. Your best subscription would be to see that your publications do not publish anti-RSS and anti- Bharat stuff.”
That was the last conversation, and the last meeting with her.
After a week or so I got the news that Times of India had shunted out the news men and the news women, who were planted in TOI by some ruling parties. Though they were out, their legacy kept dominating.
After about a week, in a press conference, M.G. Vaidya, the then RSS Spokesman, highlighted the subject of the undue deal given to news, real or fake, by most of the news persons. “While you on ground don’t take trouble to verify veracity of most of the news, the editorial notes, in most of the cases, are mainly advertorial notes”.
Quoting a TOI report that he as an RSS representative, on a given date had lunch with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and impressed upon him certain FDI issues, Vaidya said, “It is partly a correct news, and partly a wrong and cooked news. It is correct that I had lunch on that date, but it is wrong and cooked news that I took lunch with the Prime Minister. I was out of station for some days, including the date you mentioned, so there is no question of having lunch with the P.M., and impressing upon him certain FDI issue.”
That remark caused a hearty laughter in the conference that was bent upon shooting some allegedly serious, though baseless, questions to Vaidya, which he, corrected and replied to educate the questioners.
After 2-3 days I, as an assistant to Vaidya, got a call from TOI that the editorial staff of TOI wanted to sit and have “chai pe charcha” with Vaidya. I discussed with him the issues raised in the recent Press Conference and rang back to TOI to tell them the date and time for the meeting. A senior journalist came from TOI and took us to the TOI, where the curious editors and news persons were waiting for Vaidya, the doyen of the media world with decades of experience in journalism.
Having had pleasantries, one by one they asked Vaidya many intelligent questions, which he replied in highly enlightening and humorous style of his own. The question and answer- session witnessed many a hearty laughter. Vaidya mastered the unique art of lighting and enlightening any complicated and serious issue, and fighting the media with sharp swords of quips in both hands. As a very senior journalist, columnist and author he narrated, rather bluntly many instances when the editors of TOI refrained from going to depth to verify the news before publishing. He asked them to see that no news, which generates indifference toward national interest, is Okayed for publication. “Your editorial notes must give top priority to the interest of this great nation of yore with millions of masses that need positive, constructive and encouraging and promising news. Please see that your editorial notes don’t give impression of being only advertorial notes”, Vaidya advised them.
The subject of why TOI, the only big newspaper capable of generating happy and encouraging public opinion, the only “andhon me kana raja”, strayed from the divine guidelines of its Chairperson, has been touched by Ms. Bachi Karkaria, a senior editor in TOI, in her homage-write up titled “She walked with Seers, but always had her feet firmly on the ground” , published in TOI on May 14, 2021.
She wrote, “Indu jain had arrived from the polar opposite of the empire suddenly at her command. She had evolved through Satsangs promoting peace and universal human hood; media thrived on clashes…., political and economic, social, civil and celeb. She had walked with believers; cynicism was a professional imperative for journalists. She was the boss, so open revolt wasn’t possible; but you couldn’t miss the clutter of collectively dropped jaws that met her dictates”.
“The new Chairman wanted a kinder, gentler, happier newspaper. How is it possible, we grumbled, when doom and gloom are the raison d’etre of media, when the age old mantra was ‘good news is no news’? But you know what? From this conflicted churning emerged an antidote to troubled times: the positive stories of human goodness which lit the way out of the catastrophic events that hit the nation - droughts, floods, cyclones, major accidents, terror attacks. This has continued in the latest, arguable worst scourge of all. During the pandemic, the Times of India has given prime space to the series, ‘Shot of Hope’ and ‘Beacons of Hope.’
Should TOI be thanked for publishing the positive stories of human goodness? Is it enough for a national newspaper to publish only some of the positive news? It is bizarre that TOI, like many other news papers closed their eyes to the revolutionary reforms and the unprecedented measures adopted by Modi government to ease life of the millions of masses. At times it would be noted that TOI avoid publishing universally honored news which bring pride and glory to common Indians.
The involvement of some media persons in the shady deals like Augusta Chopper during pre- Modi era, and the implicit refusal by Modi government to deny extra importance to, and participation of some journalists, in policy making and running the government indirectly has caused media-resentment and resulted in some well plotted anti-Modi stands. Now they seem to be busy in manufacturing, managing and circulating fake news and rumors, which they are experts in.
Let us hope that the TOI would honor the wish of its Chairman as quoted by Bachi Karkaria, and falsify the concept that media cannot exist without doom and gloom in society.