Pinarayi Vijayan may never have forgotten the cryptic yet acidic remark in a column in The New Indian Express that termed him 'probably the last Communist Chief Minister of Kerala'. Yet, in all likelihood, the Communist veteran might have forgiven its creator for the quip. For the man in question was, more than anything else, a true-blood journalist and chronicler of the times that he lived in, so much so that even such a cryptic observation was sure to make its way into the annals of history. And he harboured no ill-intention too.
Veteran author and noted columnist TJS George, who passed away at the age of 97 on Friday, never hesitated to call a spade a spade. And whenever he felt his views needed a fresh perspective, he never hesitated to do so.
The same TJS, who was once a huge critic of Pinarayi, later went on at length on the latter's statesmanship, diplomatic sense, and farsightedness regarding Kerala's development and innovative initiatives.
"I was sceptical, not just a bit, but sceptical to the core, when I got an invite from the Kerala government for the Loka Kerala Sabha. As you know, there were no dearth of controversies and speculations at the time. I was naturally very cautious and observant, when I went there. But sitting there for the whole day turned out to be a different experience. I really liked the manner in which the government was trying to connect with Malayalis across the globe. A truly innovative idea. It could well turn out to be a wide network for aiding Kerala's development," he said.
Standing in the portico of our Thiruvananthapuram office and sharing those titbits from his day-long event with me and another colleague, TJS was visibly excited. We had actually gone to see him off after his short visit to the office at around 7.30 pm. But he continued to talk, standing there.
"I know it's busy hours for us, and I am disturbing our own schedule," he quipped, with a twinkle in his eyes. Even as the chauffeur waited with the car door held half-open, he went on and on. The year was 2018.
It was the same TJS who unleashed a scathing attack on Pinarayi -- not long after he took over as Chief Minister for the first time -- for his seemingly non-Leftist posturings on a couple of issues.
I still remember what a senior colleague shared with me after a meeting with the CM, 'I read the column. The Last Communist Chief Minister, huh,' was how Pinarayi reportedly retorted.
Umpteen were the occasions, when people like me too got a wee bit of credit for being part of the same brand as TJS. Probably the funniest among them involved a colleague of mine more than two decades ago, when we were starting off as mere cub reporters. He shared the same name as TJS and would attend a flurry of phone calls from readers on the office landline, on the day after TJS' regular column appeared in the newspaper.
Thrilled and brimming with pride, he would attend each call, as the reader at the other end, elated over being able to speak to the 'columnist' himself, kept showering him with praises for the article. And when at the end he would reveal that he was not TJS, the disappointment was palpable.
In fact, I had even shared this with TJS himself once, drawing a surprised chuckle from him.
I was lucky enough to interact with him at close quarters on quite a few occasions. I had heard that TJS avoided conversations over mobile phones but he was curiously not reluctant to speak to me over the mobile, not once or twice, but on more than a few occasions.
On one occasion almost a decade ago, after hesitating for a long time, I called him up late in the night to cross-check a correction. A senior colleague had sent an article and asked me to have it read by TJS who was in the state capital for some event. I promptly went and met him and handed over the copy. He returned it after sometime with some minor correction marked with a pencil, which I dutifully forwarded.
A few minutes later came a query -- what did he say about this portion? There was no remark. It was close to the deadline. Waking up an octogenarian to clarify a doubt was obviously unpardonable. But the newspaper cannot wait. I rang him up. His wife picked up the call. I mustered the courage to convey why I had called so late. She passed the phone to him. "Sir, there was no remark, no correction. That's why I called," I said. "Why? There's no correction. It's a good piece. That's all!" he responded.
A chronicler of his times, not just politics but even the socio-cultural realms, TJS made sure each of his 'Point of View' columns was packed with a clear perspective. It was a repository of journalistic wisdom from a veteran who had seen it all -- that too from close quarters. He never shied away from questioning the powers that be.
Not mentioning his Malayalam work would be a crime. Ghoshayathra, his magnum opus in the language, would undoubtedly put to shame any native Malayalam non-fiction writer for its wide canvas, true insights, rare pieces of wisdom and inherent humour. Adieu sir!