Five memories of Dileep Padgaonkar

Dileep Padgaonkar (72), former Editor of The Times of India and possibly the last known Editor of TOI, passed away in Pune on Friday after a brief illness. He had been hospitalised following a cardiac arrest on November 18. In this tribute, NH Executive Editor Uttam Sengupta , who was the Resident Editor of TOI in Patna, Lucknow and Calcutta between 1991 and 2003, remembers some of the facets of the well-known journalist who was also one of the three interlocutors appointed by the UPA to report on the situation in Kashmir.

Rock star in Patna

We had invited RK Laxman, the creator of the ‘Common Man’, to attend the Patna Book Fair in the early nineties. But Laxman said he would visit Patna only if Dileep also accompanied him. Dileep graciously agreed to the proposal. As soon as word spread about the two visiting the city, we were flooded by requests from different bodies interested in inviting them to speak. And there were also requests from the who’s who of Patna, who wanted to invite the celebrity editor and the celebrity cartoonist to dine with them. Both of them were mobbed by people at the book fair and police had to be called in to escort them out of the ground. While the craze for Laxman was easy to understand, the response to Dileep surprised many. But he had endeared himself to at least a section of people by consistently, sensibly and soberly writing on the issues confronting the nation.

Opposed Hindu ‘nationalism’

The Times of India editorially opposed the demolition of Babri Masjid and criticised the Government’s failure to protect the monument. While the owners Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd went along with Dileep, I do remember a meeting the chairman of BCCL, Ashok Jain held in Delhi with Dileep and the Resident Editors. The chairman’s poser was why should the newspaper reflect the views of five editors but not the sentiment of millions of people outside. I do not now remember the exact words but Dileep firmly said that as an institution the newspaper had to rise above populism. The rest of us followed his lead and echoed him.

A ‘Rennaissance’ man

Considering he was so prolific, it is a surprise that Dileep never bothered to get a collection of his writing published. He was far more keen to read books, engage with cerebral people, watch good films and listen to good music. Film was his passion and long after the death of Italian film maker Roberto Rossellini, Dileep travelled to Italy to interview his widow Sonali for a book on Rossellini’s visit to India. Having studied in France, he could read and speak French fluently and I believe a copy of the French newspaper Le Monde was delivered to him every day. He was also a foodie and enjoyed good company. Endowed with a gentle and wry sense of humour, he was often misunderstood, famously for stating that he had the second most important job in the country after the Prime Minister. The ‘humour’ fell flat, however, with most people panning him for his ‘arrogance’, a trait that was alien to him. True he did not suffer fools easily and intellectually he was far superior to most people he interacted with, but he was too much of a gentleman to make it apparent.

Interviews for a British newspaper

One of the British newspapers, I no longer recall whether it was The Times, invited Dileep to travel to England and interview five people for them. If I remember correctly, Nirad C Chaudhuri and VS Naipaul were among the five. On his return, Dileep modified or expanded the interviews suitably for The Times of India, which carried the full page interviews on five different Sundays. I remember Dileep wryly telling me that TOI had offered to pay ₹2,000 each for the interviews. I asked how much he was paid by the British newspaper. He gave a smile, pursed his lips and said, “I am not telling you that”.

The Editor who hired me for TOI

While it was Ajay Kumar, the then Resident Editor of TOI in Delhi, who I suspect had recommended my name, it was Dileep who hired me as the Resident Editor of TOI at Patna. At the first meeting with him, NBT editor Rajendra Mathur and Ashok Jain, Dileep did not speak much but I could see that my replies to questions amused him hugely. His eyes twinkled and he tried his best to hide his amusement when Ashok ji wanted to know what would be the first thing I would do after taking over the edition at Patna. I replied that I would invite Hindi writers to write for us. Rajendra Mathur didn’t know how to react, Dileep looked amused while Ashok ji was shocked and demanded an explanation. I explained that the best writers in Bihar would be writing in Hindi and I saw no difficulty in getting their writing translated into English. The next morning I was introduced to Ramesh Chandra Jain, the Publisher, who informed that the chief minister of Bihar was against my appointment. I was upset and asked why in that case they had offered the appointment. Ramesh Ji replied, “Dileep Padgaonkar felt the objections were frivolous”.

R.I.P., Dileep. Wish I had tried to reach out to you last December when I was in Pune.

Uttam Sengupta is Executive Editor of National Herald. He tweets at @chatukhor