Lucknow Boy

Title: Lucknow Boy – A Memoir

Author: Vinod Mehta

Publisher: Penguin Viking, 2011 (First)

ISBN: 9780670085293

Pages: 325

Building a newspaper or magazine up from scratch is a tedious job. Apparently, people don't relish such a prospect. Matters became very complicated in the post-liberalization era when India's publishing industry opened up to serious money coming from abroad. It is nothing short of a miracle that a single man was able to create not one, but four publications by the dint of hard work and the intuition on which way the wind is blowing. On account of the establishment of journals such as Indian Post, Independent, Pioneer and Outlook, Vinod Mehta is sometimes hailed as the ultimate launch man of Indian publishing. His experience in taking these illustrious publications from the drawing board to the street stall is unrivalled. Vinod Mehta was an Indian journalist, editor and political commentator. He is the author of several books and this one is an autobiography of his eventful life as an editor in journals of national repute.

Quite unusual for a man who pioneered mainstream media, Mehta began his life as editor of the men's magazine Debonair. He always found something that should be removed to attract attention whether in the magazine or its portrayed models. The periodical which had begun with male seminude pictures had closed down after just six months. Mehta infused new life into it by sporting serious articles interspersed with half-clad models. Known for his boldness in exposure with the pen – no pun intended – he lives up to his name by mentioning a shocking episode during the Emergency. The dreaded Information and Broadcasting minister V C Shukla wanted a meeting with him along with the next issue’s centre spread pictures in design stage. At the end of the interview the minister appropriated the most revealing photograph for himself (p.89)

The author's USP is his fearlessness in writing about the idiosyncrasies of political leaders and business tycoons. He had a tenuous relationship with the latter on account of them being the proprietors of the publishing houses. He was not averse to take risks. When Sunday observer was first published in 1981, it was the first time in India that a publication came out only on Sundays which combined the good features of a newspaper and a magazine. Mehta’s most controversial episode might have been the naming of the Maharashtra leader Y B Chavan as the CIA mole in Indira Gandhi's cabinet in the 1970s. The mayhem let loose by the revelation forced the management of The Independent to eject Mehta and it published an apology. However, the author discloses in this memoir that after further consultations with Seymour Hersh, he has come to know reliably that Morarji Desai was the mole who worked for the CIA by accepting $20,000 per year through his son Kanti Desai. The unrepentant declaration that it was not Chavan but Desai is galling and sheds light at the casual disregard of the journalist in making and marring the careers of respectable people. This is evidenced by an incident when the author was working for the Pioneer. Its proprietor, Lalit Mohan Thapar, was a friend of the politician Sharad Pawar and the author had no compunction to plant a story projecting Pawar as a possible candidate to be the next prime minister. In the same magazine itself, Mehta suspended a provoking interview with the army chief S F Rodriguez from publishing in which the veteran soldier had labeled the entire political class as bandicoots.

It seems that Vinod Mehta had a strong inclination to side with the Congress Party and he feels no shame in flaunting it. In fact, he advises novices to the profession that it is just about okay. In his inimitable style, he professes that neutrality of journalists is a pompous myth. The Nira Radia tapes, which find mention in the book, narrates the unholy nexus between politicians, journalists and wheeler dealers. Barkha Dath and Vir Sanghvi were the journalists who got caught in the tape. Mehta describes about his attacks against Vajpayee as prime minister and Narendra Modi as the chief minister of Gujarat. When the frivolous tirades became unbearable, Vajpayee ordered an income tax raid on the proprietor and the attacks dramatically stopped as if at the flick of a switch.

Being a person from Lucknow, memories of his dear hometown lend the book its title. The author shares a glimpse of life in that city immediately after independence. The upper crest had a carefree life in which humour occupied a central place in the scheme of things. Those who didn't laugh and make others laugh were considered dangerous people. But the old world charm of Oudh’s social life was soon folding back against the flow of migrants coming from Pakistan. The Lucknow aristocracy was in clear retreat, selling their heritage as the refugees gobbled up businesses with their superior ability to persevere and adapt to changing conditions. However Metha realizes that shedding tears for the gun-flogging and chandelier-hawking rajas and nawabs was like shedding tears for the extinction of dinosaurs. However, all was not well even by the author’s narrative. The Hindu-Muslim divide crept even into the sphere of sports such as Table Tennis. In the 50s and 60s Lucknow, the table tennis scene was highly communalized. Clubs were organized on the basis of religion. The Bengali club, Firangi Mahal club, Sanyal club and others were fierce rivals mainly due to communal hostility.

The author’s mastery over the language is impeccable and should be a source of envy to any editor. This book is a treasure trove of delectable idioms, words and phrases. It is a must-read for all aspiring journalists and language professionals. Mehta was an ardent representative of India’s elite, and so his professional support to Arundhati Roy and the Maoists who protested eviction of tribals for the commencement of mining operations is a bit labored. This Anglophone journalist whose telephone number was in the contact list of the most powerful people in the country and who feeds Italian cheese to his pet dog wants the readers to be convinced of his earnest desire to protect the rights of the tribals. The author has been candid – perhaps a bit more so – in portraying even the most intimate moments of his life. On the negative side, he seems to get carried away by praise as seen in the verbatim reproduction of the praise heaped by peers on the success of his publishing ventures.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star