Uncompromising on layout
He was a wholesome editor, having in-depth knowledge of all branches of media. And he was very fussy about the layout. Once I asked him why give so much prominence to the layout, saying that people buy newspapers to read the news and won’t be too bothered about the layout. He shouted at me, “You are not a good editor.” He would always stress that the layout has great prominence.
“When one takes out the paper, it should be easy on the eye of the reader. The font and the layout should catch the reader on every item.” He followed that theory closely in his journalistic journey.
Won’t forget 1st encounter
While I was working in the Financial Express, I was invited to a get-together of senior journalists. Shalil Ghosh, a special correspondent with the Hindustan Standard, organised the event. T J S George sir was there, and Shalil introduced me to him. They addressed sir as Sony.
“Sony, meet the upcoming journalist M K Das. He is here with us today,” Shalil said.
I was delighted and asked TJS sir where he was based back home. His face turned red and I could gauge he didn’t like the query at all. He walked away and I faced the first snubbing in my life. I stood shell-shocked and couldn’t figure out what had happened. It was only later that I understood the reason. I had spoken to him in Malayalam, and there were only three Malayalis in that gathering—he, another person, and I. He didn’t want to speak in a language others couldn’t follow. He had strong likes and dislikes and would react instantly.
Biography on Krishna Menon sold like hot cakes
He was the first biographer of the great V K Krishna Menon. Though there were some books partially referring to Krishna Menon’s life, his work was the first full-scale biography on the nationalist, politician, and diplomat. The book was published in 1964 and it sold like hot cakes. Then, Frank Moraes was the Editor-In-Chief of The Indian Express, which was one of the most sought-after newspapers in the country.
It was a year after I joined the paper. He used to write in the Monday Columns, which was very famous for editorial articles. In that, Moraes wrote an article titled ‘Nehru boos Menon’, which was on the close, albeit complex, relationship between Jawaharlal Nehru and Krishna Menon. Menon was a bitter enemy of Moraes and the latter would write critically on the former. But Moraes wrote an appreciative review, though there were critical reviews as well. That resulted in tremendous mileage for the biography.
Another speciality of TJS’s biographies is that he didn’t interview the figures he wrote on. TJS chronicled the life of popular Indian actress Nargis Dutt and penned another biography on the great classical musician, M S Subbulakshmi. The value addition of that book was that it unveiled the love letter Subbulakshmi wrote to G N Balasubramaniam, doyen of carnatic music. He also did a biographical account of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackery and former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew. But he didn’t interview any of them.
I asked him why he was writing biographies about personalities without interviewing them. “That’s the best way you won’t get influenced by their personality. Mine is a true independent account of them,” he said. Even when he was critical of the subjects, he wouldn’t do that blindly; he would substantiate the same. He had that acumen.
(As told to Krishna Kumar K E)
M K Das, former Resident Editor (Kerala) of both The Indian Express and TNIE, shares three anecdotes that offer a glimpse into the persona of T J S George
