This book is a work of love from a loving son to an accomplished father, compiled by the well-known and much-loved sports journalist from Hyderabad, N. Jagannath Das who worked with The Indian Express for most of his career hails from a family of journalists. His father (and the subject of this book) N.R. Swami was a highly respected journalist in Odisha who wrote for PTI, The Statesman and The Hindu mainly, over five decades (he knew or met Presidents, Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers and so on on a personal basis) Das, the youngest of nine, five brothers (N.V.R.Swami, N. Pattabhi, N. Venkat Subbiah, Late N. Ramdas and Das - four of whom became journalists), and four sisters (Kasturi, Sita, Sarada and Ratnamala), has taken it upon himself to put together the story of his accomplished father N.R. Swami and preserve his memory for posterity.
N.R. Swami (1909-1981), was the son of a policeman who migrated from Guntur to Odisha. Thanks to some invaluable audio recordings done by one of his sons-in-law, some precious, early memories of N.R. Swami aka Swami Babu were captured. A peek into those early days of N. R. Swami reveal an energetic, intelligent and mischievous child who quickly learned to swim, ride a bicycle and even ride a horse (policemen used to ride horses then). He was also a stubborn child having run away twice from his house over some scolding. He also tells of how he was planning to buy a train and with half an anna - his strategy was to acquire the half anna, walk into the railway station and ask if he could buy a train! After schooling he was sent to Madras where he learned shorthand and typing and joined work at Rs 18 as a clerk at the Munsif court. He returned from Madras after finding the work rather unchallenging, and hoped to head off to Burma for better prospects.
However he developed an interest in journalism after being inspired by the Satyagraha movement. He wrote an article and sent it off to PTI - and that article earned him an entry into journalism. His entry to The Statesman was even more dramatic. He applied for a job at The Statesman in Calcutta, which was mainly run by Britishers, and was called for an interview. He reached Calcutta by train and called them throughout the day but found no answer. At the end of the day he decided to return home to Odisha and made one last call from Howrah station. This time he was called for the interview and given the job. The bosses were, it appears, testing if he had the patience and persistence required of a good journalist. NR Swami displayed both in ample measure. (There's a story of how he went to cover the floods in the dark and was on the railway track with his friend when he fortuitously heard the oncoming train and stepped back just in the nick of the time. All to cover the news and bring it to the public.)
Energetic, diligent, persuasive, N. R. Swami had an eye for a good story, was first on the scene, backed his stories with meticulous research, facts and statistics, and maintained true an uncompromising attitude in his search for the truth. He covered elections, wrote on government policy, covered calamities like drought and floods, cyclones, the lives of adivasis, wildlife, and even sports. President VV Giri was a personal friend and would always meet him when he visited Orissa - once even invited NR Swami and his spouse Sita along with the family to the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. (I think I saw Das's picture as a young boy at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.) He met Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, was a good friend of Biju Patnaik and several others. He was once offered the Rajya Sabha seat which he declined saying he was a journalist and not a politician. Guided by his values and ethics, a loving heart and a zest of life, Swami loved his cars (Minx, Morris Minor, Ford Prefect, Standard Herald), his dogs (had a dalmatian), his cigarettes which he rolled himself and of course his work. No wonder he carved a name for himself as a pioneer in journalism in Odisha.
They say - 'if you have not made enemies, you have not stood up for anything. N.R. Swami's upright stance and reporting things without bias, as he saw them, cost him. The Congress Government in Orissa then headed by Dr Mahatab were unhappy with his reports and in what we now see as not an unusual plot, wrote to PTI, The Statesman and The Hindu, that Swami seemed to be on the payroll of a foreign embassy to oust the Congress and should be removed from his job. PTI transferred him while the other two did not heed the letter. The Hindu on the other hand, sent Swami a copy of the letter they received from the government. Armed with the letter, Swami filed a defamation case against the government - a case which he won and was awarded Rs. 28000 for loss of reputation! It was a landmark case as the courts then had the guts to stand up to the ruling government and noted that the CM's evidence was not credible. However the court proceedings took a long time (finally cleared in 1970). In the meanwhile he left PTI, shifted to a small two room house with his large family, a house so small that most of the belongings were left out in the garden and he would sleep in his car. Things improved and he shifted into a bigger house later.
His meetings with Mahatma Gandhi did not go well but mostly because of Gandhi's likes and dislikes - once because of the smell of tobacco (Swami was a smoker) and once because he was wearing western clothes (he was a natty dresser).The ones with Nehru seemed to have gone better after a stuttering start - once when Nehru and Lady Mountbatten came to Orissa and went missing he followed them down to the guest house under the pretext of delivering a newspaper and managed to meet him and in another by getting into the same compartment as the train was moving and staying on for an interview. There are articles about the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi being hit by a stone in 1967 when she came for a rally (a student threw it), about Hirakud dam where he covered the aspects of development and tribal displacement and Nehru's vision of 'temples of tomorrow', of the National Games of 1958 which was dominated by Milkha Singh and Gulzara Singh, about a judge being unhappy with a poorly drafted document, about the Nandankanan zoo and its white tigress Khairi (which actually was tame and was brought to their house by the Conservator). He received a citation from the Indian Institute for National integration in 1976 in recognition of his lifelong work.
The book is a fascinating peek into his life and like I said, a work of love, which will serve the family, young writers and journalists, and students of life well. There is much to learn from his work ethic and values and discipline. The gentleness that is ascribed to him shows in the words he uses - for example he would not write that a record was 'broken' but used 'lowered' which is a gentler perspective. Another interesting story on how his reports have been archived systematically is that an American couple who lived next door to them in Bhubaneswar, Richard Tubb and his wife, took it upon themselves to organise the thousands of newspaper cuttings in a folder which became the source material for this book.
The 112 page book has a nice size, wonderful pictures of family, writing tools such as the typewriters, camera, scanned copies of some reports and essays written by his sons, daughter. daughter in law, one granddaughter. The foreword is written by PV Rajagopal, IPS (Retd) and a preface by Brojendra Patnaik (former Principal of BJB College). It is a well captured snapshot of a life well-lived and an effort I feel that should be emulated by every family to record the stories of their elders which can be lost to their children, grandchildren and so on. Future generations will know them as real people with real stories and not just as an ancestor, a few pictures and a fading memory. For this I commend Das in taking up this initiative and bringing the story of his father to a wider audience.
I really enjoyed reading it. It's a nice easy read, with fascinating details and information. It is well-produced and has just the right balance - not too much, and not too little. Good job Das and here's wishing the book all success. And looking forward to more of your books. Like your father would say 'Keep Writing'!
