‘I saw these men in black, there were a few actually’ -Anuradha Bhasin, the Executive Editor of Kashmir Times recollected her co-passengers in flight to Kochi. It was about Sabarimala devotees.
‘It is the season now’ -I replied and gained some confidence.
She might be tired as she was in flight for around 13 hours. So, I decided not to ask more. Surprisingly she continued talking about the location of Sabarimala and exact period of season etc.
She even got curious to know what is usually kept inside in ‘irumudikkettu’. I managed to explain how we put ghee inside coconut and such stuff.
We discussed about contemporary media in Kashmir, debut of her career in journalism, her observation about geographical aspects in Kashmir politics, significance of rights to believe and equality in regards with woman entering Sabarimala, how army operates in locales of Kashmir, CAA, the struggles which her father Ved Bhasin faced to establish Kashmir Times etc.
Me, as a representative of Kerala Media Academy, was sent to the airport to receive her.
She reached Kerala to deliver the keynote address at the press freedom summit arranged by Kerala Union of Working Journalists and the Academy.
The summit was on the next day, so I didn’t disturb her much and kept myself busy googling “how to take an interview with a famous personality”.
I was really confused and nervous, as I was hearing this name for the first time in my life.
So as usual, I struggled a bit with google and Facebook searches for around half an hour and in fact, it didn’t satisfy me.
The next day morning, I rushed to the hotel where she stayed.
I knew I was one hour early but didn’t hesitate to ask her if I can have a small talk.
She was so kind, without making me wait for long, she came to the reception area and we started talking.
We discussed contemporary media in Kashmir, debut of her career in journalism, her observation about geographical aspects in Kashmir politics, significance of rights to believe and equality in regards with woman entering Sabarimala, how army operates in locales of Kashmir, CAA, the struggles which her father Ved Bhasin faced to establish Kashmir Times etc.
She was so kind and patient to answer my cliché questions such as how she entered into this profession.
Because for her, Journalism was not just a profession, but it was her family thing.
After our conversation, I didn’t need more google searches about her.
I thankfully remember this occasion and count this cordial experience as a bookmark for my upcoming experiences to look back to see how to behave to someone in a modest way, even if when at eternal heights.
