Thirtieth January 1971 is a historic day for India, and for me. I had joined United News of India barely a fortnight earlier as its trainee sub-editor in Delhi. It was early in the day and only our news editor BRP Bhaskar and I were in the office. My job was to collect the papers Bhaskar would type on his baby typewriter, read, edit, write a serial number and pass them on to the teleprinter operator. Computers and internet for word processing and dissemination were unheard of then.
He signalled me to collect a piece of paper. Without reading and editing the text, I marked a serial number and passed the paper to the operator. In an instant, the operator typed a three-word message. All the teleprinters in the office had begun transmitting a clutter that indicated that it was a ‘flash.’ At that silent morning hour, it was a big noise. I rushed to the printer to now read the news. The flash had said ‘Indian Plane Hijacked.’
I froze for a moment and looked at BRP who was taking down the story over the phone and typing it over his typewriter. His second and subsequent parts of the story began rolling out of his typewriter. I entered the serial numbers and pushed the papers to the operator for the next fifteen minutes. Our airport reporter had passed on the subsequent details to Bhaskar to continue the story.
A little later when we had had a breather, he broke the silence. ‘Did you edit the story, Kiran?’ he asked me casually. ‘How can I edit your story, sir?, I asked him in disbelief, implying that he was the news editor and I, a mere trainee sub-editor. ‘That is not correct. Every story must be edited, even if it is written by the Editor.’ Thus, he had taught me the first lesson face to face. The second was indirect, a subtle, and everlasting.
I froze for a moment and looked at BRP who was taking down the story over the phone and typing it over his typewriter. His second and subsequent parts of the story began rolling out of his typewriter. I entered the serial numbers and pushed the papers to the operator for the next fifteen minutes. Our airport reporter had passed on the subsequent details to Bhaskar to continue the story.
A little later when we had had a breather, he broke the silence. ‘Did you edit the story, Kiran?’ he asked me casually. ‘How can I edit your story, sir?, I asked him in disbelief, implying that he was the news editor and I, a mere trainee sub-editor. ‘That is not correct. Every story must be edited, even if it is written by the Editor.’ Thus, he had taught me the first lesson face to face. The second was indirect, a subtle, and everlasting.
Before I tell you what the second lesson was, let me tell you what the story was. It was the first hijack of an Indian flight as I was to know later that day. It was an Indian Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft named Ganga, flying from Srinagar to Jammu. Two Kashmiri terrorists belonging to the National Liberation Front were the hijackers. They had flown the aircraft to Lahore where the passengers and crew were released. The aircraft was burnt on 1 February 1971.
Thus, it was the first earth-shaking story that had hit the headlines across the world. Within a year, India-Pakistan conflict led to the liberation of Bangladesh after the surrender of Pakistan’s army.
That morning of 30th January, I was a witness to the newsroom operation led by Bhaskar. He had taught me how a journalist should remain cool, calm and controlled, and should write stories without panic and excitement: the lesson I would remember all my journalistic career of four decades.
Thus, it was the first earth-shaking story that had hit the headlines across the world. Within a year, India-Pakistan conflict led to the liberation of Bangladesh after the surrender of Pakistan’s army.
That morning of 30th January, I was a witness to the newsroom operation led by Bhaskar. He had taught me how a journalist should remain cool, calm and controlled, and should write stories without panic and excitement: the lesson I would remember all my journalistic career of four decades.
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Kiran Thakur
Adjunct Faculty. FLAME University
03, Indrayani, Patrakaarnagar, Pune 411016
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