Feb 1, 2012
Hi John,
I was also disturbed with what Vinod Mehta supposed to have written in
his book Lucknow Boy, as described in Khushwant Singh's column.
Vinod has a readable style and though I'm no fan of his I thought,
when the book was published, that I'd like to get it. That thought has
changed!
Vinod Mehta became the editor of The Pioneer for a short while and
his 'just-missed' success in turning around its fortunes is mentioned
in the book. He had given an interview when the book was published and
mentioned that he was removed as editor just as the paper was showing
positive results.
Just as only Vinod knows about the Martiniere's Anglo-Indians of his
time, only he knows about pulling the newspaper out of its dive.
Kushwant says that Vinod wrote about AIs sodomising boys; so it would
be better to leave it at that as he must have good reason to put it in
a book. He also wrote that boys were still in school in their '30s'.
All I can say here is that AIs never bluffed their ages! No more
comment is required here as I don't want to alienate any Martinian
just because of Mehta.
The joke, bitter as it was for all those who were going to be jobless
at The Pioneer, was that Vinod had been know for closing down
newspapers and magazines. Let's say Vinod's luck changed with his
'Outlook'. The recent scourge of scams that hit India helped him when
he 'exposed' two very popular journalists, Barkha Dutt of NDTV and
Vir Sanghvi of the Hindustan Times, of being in cahoots with some of
the crooks. This went down well with the public and his popularity
soared because in India journalists of some standing are celebrities
themselves.
Barkha, I think has been rehabilitated while Vir Sanghvi, whom I
admired at one time for his balanced views, keeps a low profile. When
the Cal Mart was being pilloried after the death of a student Vir
threw a couple of stones himself and, if I remember correctly, said
the Martinieres are poor copies of the British public school. I then
felt his thinking isn't all that good! (following added on March 27,2013) Vir Sanghvi shouldn't forget that he studied in Mayo College,also founded on the British pattern but, as he has honestly admitted from time to time in his writings, came from a privileged background, so did his higher studies in the UK. This put him above the 'fake' public school image that he himself had shrugged off!
By the way, Vinod's pic is in today's 'i next' (Lucknow) along with
the Naqvi brothers, Saeed and Shane. Saeed is also a well-known
journalist.
May continue this later...
George Shepherd
I have the (dubious) distinction of working under two Martinians who were appointed editor of The Pioneer
whom I never met - Chandan Mitra is the other.
Hi John,
I was also disturbed with what Vinod Mehta supposed to have written in
his book Lucknow Boy, as described in Khushwant Singh's column.
Vinod has a readable style and though I'm no fan of his I thought,
when the book was published, that I'd like to get it. That thought has
changed!
Vinod Mehta became the editor of The Pioneer for a short while and
his 'just-missed' success in turning around its fortunes is mentioned
in the book. He had given an interview when the book was published and
mentioned that he was removed as editor just as the paper was showing
positive results.
Just as only Vinod knows about the Martiniere's Anglo-Indians of his
time, only he knows about pulling the newspaper out of its dive.
Kushwant says that Vinod wrote about AIs sodomising boys; so it would
be better to leave it at that as he must have good reason to put it in
a book. He also wrote that boys were still in school in their '30s'.
All I can say here is that AIs never bluffed their ages! No more
comment is required here as I don't want to alienate any Martinian
just because of Mehta.
The joke, bitter as it was for all those who were going to be jobless
at The Pioneer, was that Vinod had been know for closing down
newspapers and magazines. Let's say Vinod's luck changed with his
'Outlook'. The recent scourge of scams that hit India helped him when
he 'exposed' two very popular journalists, Barkha Dutt of NDTV and
Vir Sanghvi of the Hindustan Times, of being in cahoots with some of
the crooks. This went down well with the public and his popularity
soared because in India journalists of some standing are celebrities
themselves.
Barkha, I think has been rehabilitated while Vir Sanghvi, whom I
admired at one time for his balanced views, keeps a low profile. When
the Cal Mart was being pilloried after the death of a student Vir
threw a couple of stones himself and, if I remember correctly, said
the Martinieres are poor copies of the British public school. I then
felt his thinking isn't all that good! (following added on March 27,2013) Vir Sanghvi shouldn't forget that he studied in Mayo College,also founded on the British pattern but, as he has honestly admitted from time to time in his writings, came from a privileged background, so did his higher studies in the UK. This put him above the 'fake' public school image that he himself had shrugged off!
By the way, Vinod's pic is in today's 'i next' (Lucknow) along with
the Naqvi brothers, Saeed and Shane. Saeed is also a well-known
journalist.
May continue this later...
George Shepherd
I have the (dubious) distinction of working under two Martinians who were appointed editor of The Pioneer
whom I never met - Chandan Mitra is the other.
