KOCHI: Quiet, mild-mannered and unpretentious. Satish Babu, the special correspondent of The New Indian Express in Palakkad, who passed away on Monday following severe dengue, was known for his unwavering commitment to the profession. He was 61.
Satish began his career in the late 1980s as a proofreader at the Kochi desk, before rising through the ranks to become a sub-editor and later as reporter in the Kochi bureau. He moved to Kollam as the district reporter and later shifted base to Palakkad, where he worked for more than three decades.
A journalist who was committed to society, Satish is remembered for his hundreds of reports that captured the stories from the Palakkad hinterland, be it the stories of tribal communities in Attapadi or the plight of the paddy farmers.
When the uproar over Coca-Cola's factory in Plachimada in Palakkad came up in 1999 after the villagers protested against the soft-drink maker's extraction of huge quantities of groundwater, Satish was despatching reports daily, helping TNIE stand ahead of the others. Fellow journalists in Palakkad remember Satish as always helpful, providing them liberally with information and contacts.
A workaholic, Satish was known for filing his reports, irrespective of whether it's his off-day or ill health.
He was infected with dengue some weeks back. Following the advice of local doctors, he was shifted to a private hospital in Coimbatore after the dengue damaged his lung and other organs.
Satish is survived by his wife M K Indira (superintendent of post offices), son Akshay Dev and daughter-in-law Srishti Priya (both scientific officers at Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam, Chennai. His body will be cremated at 12.30 pm on Tuesday.