The CEO said Saharashree was like a father to them. On his own wedding day, he touched Saharashree's feet before his parents'.
Key Points
- The meeting began. Subrato sat on a sofa, not behind his big desk. Aides stood around like it was a summit.
- Subrato snapped his fingers. A man ran up with cigarettes. Another sprinted with a lighter.
- Rakesh, delighted, said, 'Oh good, you smoke too, I was dying for one.'
Every region has its own Hindi.
Mine has a Gujarati slant and a Malayalam accent. I have never met anyone who speaks pure Hindi and lives outside a Hindi-speaking state.
Once my friend Basant asked a man on the street, 'Dhoomrdandi hai?' The man looked at him like he had asked for the moon. Turned out he just wanted a cigarette.
This brings me to a story I have told before.
I am telling it again.
Some stories deserve a repeat performance.
It is not about me this time. It is about our friend Rakesh Sharma.
He recorded the Gujarat riots. Turned it into a documentary. Won awards, so many he stopped counting them. He gave it away free, because he wanted people to see it.
You must have heard that documentary. Final Solution.
Today those old tapes are fading and nobody has the money to save them.
The world is busy with other things.
Some things we fight to preserve. Some things we simply let go.
An Unexpected Business Proposal
Before all this, Rakesh was an assistant director on Shyam Benegal's Discovery of India. Then he ran Star Plus. Then he quit.
Soon after, someone wanted to meet him. That someone was Subrato Roy. Sahara Shree. He had a TV channel and an airline, and he called himself the Managing Worker.
Rakesh flew to Delhi on Sahara Airlines. Business class. Fully paid.
An early morning flight, an SUV waiting, a driver folding his hands in pranam. All this before 7 am.
Rakesh dozed off in the car. He hadn't slept in days.
He woke up at a Noida office. Four or five men stood at the porch, dark glasses, built like bouncers.
One opened the door and said:
'Shubh Prabhat, Khed hai ki Saharashri vilambit ho gayein hain.'
A Humorous Misunderstanding
Rakesh, still half asleep, panicked. OMG, 'kab, kaise?' he asked.
So young, at the peak of his business career, the thought went to Rakesh's head.
He thought vilambit meant divangat. Late meant dead, in his groggy head.
It did not mean that. Saharashree was just running late.
Rakesh recovered fast and asked where the waiting room was. The bodyguards asked if he wanted tea. If he wanted to freshen up.
Pure Hindi does that to you. It demands full attention, and gives none in return.
The Meeting with Sahara Shree
The meeting began. Subrato sat on a sofa, not behind his big desk. Aides stood around like it was a summit.
Subrato snapped his fingers. A man ran up with cigarettes. Another sprinted with a lighter.
Rakesh, delighted, said, 'Oh good, you smoke too, I was dying for one.'
Silence. The kind that makes you check if you have said something wrong.
Subrato lit up anyway. The bodyguard stood frozen, lighter still in hand.
Rakesh took the lighter from him and lit his own cigarette.
They smoked together. The talks turned friendly after that.
Rakesh laid out his plan. No uniforms for anchors. Sharp bulletins. No presenters reading off a script, unless Subrato wanted another Doordarshan.
People behind him gasped.
Subrato smiled slowly. 'Aap bahut frank aur aggressive hain.'
Rakesh said, 'That is why you called me.'
Subrato asked about his background. Rakesh said, 'Childhood in UP, college in Delhi, career in Bombay.'
Subrato laughed, went quiet, then stood and hugged him.
'Sahara parivaar mein aapka swagat hai.'
The Aftermath and Decision
Rakesh had asked for a salary so high he expected to be shown the door. Instead he got a hug.
Outside, the CEO pulled him aside.
'Ye aapne kya kiya? Koi Saharashree ke saamne cigarette nahin peeta.'
Rakesh said, 'But he was smoking in front of me.'
The CEO said Saharashree was like a father to them. On his own wedding day, he touched Saharashree's feet before his parents'.
Rakesh listened, nodded, and quietly added fifty percent more to his already inflated number.
He did not join.
You know where Sahara TV and Sahara Airlines are today.
The Hindi part still stays with me. Pure Hindi, the kind that makes you pause and guess.
I do not hear it much these days, from any quarter.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
