M V KAMATH : The Coastal Boy Who Made Big in Journalism

by Florine Roche

March 7, 2010

At this age of technological revolution it was amusing to be greeted by the once ubiquitous typewriting sound as I enter his spacious room at the Manipal Institute of Communication.  The lap top is placed in one corner of the vast table he occupies which he hardly uses for writing his numerous columns to the major dailies of the country week after week.  At 88 he looks sharp, witty, agile and active for his age, writing 3 columns a week.  His treasures his portable Olivetti Lettere 22 typewriter and dotingly calls it as “my girlfriend” as it has been his constant companion for the last 50 years traveling with him to America, Europe and all other places he had visited during his journalistic days. Though many label him as a BJP/RSS mouthpiece he says he has ideological differences on certain issues with the party but is candid enough to say that “I stand for certain values and those happen to be similar to those of the BJP”.   

Sounds interesting!  Yes.  Madhav Vittal Kamath popularly known as M V Kamath to all his admirers and detractors never fails to surprise me with his wittiness and camaraderie unlike his serious and analytical columns and writings for which he is famous for.  That is the speciality of M V Kamath who at 27 created history by becoming the youngest editor in India for any English language newspaper when he was appointed as the editor of Free Press Journal, the daily newspaper published from Mumbai. “I worked like an ass and I am an ass.  I had many competitors but I was reasonable” he remarks on his elevation to the coveted post of editor at a young age.  

STRIKING BIG IN MUMBAI 

Nobody could believe that this small town boy hailing from Udupi, who had left for Mumbai wearing an ‘adda panche’ without shoes could scale to such a pre-eminent position in the mad bad world of Mumbai and one day even could go to America and Europe brushing shoulders with the high, the mighty, the powerful, the rich and the bold and the beautiful. Probably he is the only journalist alive who covered the glorious moment of India’s tryst with destiny when the British flag was lowered to make way for Indian tri-colour on that fateful day when India got independence.  He has also extensively covered the trial of Nathuram Godse and the historic adoption of Indian Constitution. 

Born in Udupi on September 7, 1921, Madav Vittal Kamath was the youngest of the 7 children of his lawyer father.  He had his early education in St Cicili’s Convent and Christian High School in Udupi before completing his plus two in Science from Government College, Mangalore.   He nurtured an ambition of becoming a doctor but due to lack of financial backing he was sent to Mumbai to continue his education under the care of his older brother.  As he had his education in Udupi which came under Madras Presidency he was required to pay Rs. 3000/- as transfer fee to Mumbai Presidency, thus  dashing his hopes of getting a medical seat.  He graduated in science from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai and was offered a job of reporter by the Free Press Journal with a salary of Rs 16/-.  But he settled for the job of a Chemist with a salary of Rs. 28/- per month which was higher than the one offered by the Free Press.   But ultimately the attraction of pen proved mightier and he became a journalist. 

SHATTERED DREAMS 

Since becoming a doctor remained a distant dream he chose the journalistic career as the second option.  But he never stopped chasing his unfulfilled dream.  He saved money carefully to pay for his medical seat and by the age of 34 could save Rs. 10,000/-.  Using his position as an editor he went to the then Health Minister Shantilal Shaw requesting for a medical seat.  But Shaw convinced him that he would be 41 by the time he completes his education and starts practicing which is not the right time to start a career as a doctor.  “My dreams were shattered and I went to Nariman Point and cried for an hour”, he says recalling that traumatic incident. 

But his career graph as a journalist was moving upwards and in 1955 he was sent to America as PTI correspondent. Differences with Krishna Menon brought him back to India within 3 years.  The Times of India sent him to Europe as its European Correspondent and later to America as its Washington Correspondent where he worked for 9 years. But the crowing glory of his career came when he stepped into the shoes of the inimitable Kushwanth Singh to head the then famed weekly magazine “Illustrated Weekly”.  

There was no bonhomie between the two celebrated journalists, known for their distinctive styles of writing. As Editor Kushwanth Singh had introduced a potpourri of politics, glamour, sex and jokes to sell his weekly.  It goes to the credit of Kamath that though he was chided and derided by this fellow journalist who was senior to him, he never stooped down to his level at any stage.  “He thought that to sell a magazine one needs to have sex and jokes.  When he left and I was made the editor I told my employer I am not going to follow in his footsteps”, he recalls.  My editor was aghast and told me readers will not cherish the serious stuff I was planning to dole out.  But Kamath had the audacity to say “sack me if I don’t succeed but I will stick to my principals”.  And he did succeed taking the magazine to greater heights of glory as its editor from 1978-1981, after which he retired. 

THE BALANCING ACT 

While professionally he has been able to conquer the world he could not sustain the same level of success in his marital life.  He fell in love with an American lady Eleanor, a few years senior to him. She had had an ambassador rank in United Nations and they fell in love and got married. “Eleanor belonged to a rich family and could not live in the poverty-ridden atmosphere of India.  She wanted me to go to America but I had to tell her this is my country, my land and I just cannot forfeit all this to come to America”.  They were married for 9 years but had no children. Eleanor died due to illness shortly after going back to America. Kamath has introduced a scholarship in her name in the Manipal Institute of Communication in her memory. 

Though he retired from service he was not retired in the true sense of the term.  Since 1981 Kamath has written about 45 books on a plethora of subjects from politics to banking. He is now ready with another book on the history of Union Bank of India and probably he is the only person to write history of 6 banks 5 of them originated in undivided South Kanara Dist. His weekly columns keep him as busy as he could.  But somewhere he feels the pangs of loneliness and wish he too had a loving wife for company.  Though opportunities came on his way to get married he did not budge. “When you get married you realize your true nature.  Marriage is a special bond and I thought I will not be doing justice to both by getting married again. One does not plan life, it just happens”, he reasons.  
 
NO REGRETS 

He further adds “I have no regrets in life.  You must take life as it comes.  Some other power plans our lives.  I was lucky I got a wonderful life and I am a contented man.  I have nothing more to prove.  I am just looking forward to death.   It was like a dream for me to roam around the world.  I have wined and dined with important people from around the globe.  I want to write a lot and serve my country in my own way I could”.   

At 81 he was appointed Chairman of Prasar Bharathi and got a peep into the bureaucratic set up. He could not get along with the strong IAS lobby and finally this strong lobby succeeded in passing an ordinance fixing the upper age at 75 years for Prasar Bharathi Chairman.  “I had offered to resign from the post 3 times which did not materialize.  If they had asked me to resign I would have done so willingly.  This bureaucratic organization have certain set of values I wanted to change and finally had to give up”, he points out.  

While his political affiliation with strong Hindutva ideology is well-known he strongly denies he is pro-RSS. “If someone says I am pro-RSS they don’t know me. I was very critical of them when I was young.  I admire their selfless service but have serious differences on certain issues such as animal sacrifice.  For me it is a barbaric custom and it has nothing to do with religion.  I am a strictly private person and I don’t belong to any party”, he argues. 

CANDID VIEWS 

But ask him which political party he supports he says he supports the BJP “because it represents India much more than the Congress”. With some trepidation when told that his secular credentials are often taken with a pinch of salt by many he clarified “for me secularism stands for not showing any discrimination on the basis of religion or caste. 

When I was Prasar Bharathi Chairman I supported the appointment of a Muslim lady for a topmost job without caring which religion she belongs to.  I gave priority to seniority and it happened that she was a Muslim.  For me it is secularism, where no discrimination is made owing to a person’s religion or caste”. 
Life after retirement in Mumbai has not been a pleasant one as he felt he was more of a burden on his nephews especially when he fell sick.  He had 4 bypass surgeries in the last 10 years.  When his good old friend Ramdas Pai invited him to Manipal he offered to come to Manipal and since then has been serving as the honorary Director of Manipal Institute of communication.  

He is a bachelor in every sense of the term and who enjoys cooking, taking life as it comes.  He doesn’t socialize much and prefers reading books.  He believes some other power plans and controls human life.  As a journalist he holds late S Sadanand, the founder editor of Free Press in high esteem for his courage and conviction. He also admired Chalapathi Rao of National Herald who had profound impact on him. Over the years, M V has developed his own style of writing endearing many readers all over the country. 

Last year he released another book titled “Collection of articles on Politics, Media and Literature” with a forward by Francois Gautier. Even now most of his time is spent in front of the typewriter and he just loves his job.  Apart from the book on Union Bank he is planning three more books on subjects like ‘pain’ and ‘time’ and a biography on Dr T M A Pai. “Doctor has told me to be detached from everything and I am prepared for it. I don’t call it death but a just a change over to another life” he reasons. 

One cannot but get enamored talking to M V Kamath and the coastal boy deserves kudos for his unparalleled achievements in the field of journalism reaching the zenith by his sheer talent.