Spice of life | When the formidable Iron Lady left me tongue-tied

When a Tunisian batchmate shot off a question in French, the former PM not just understood it but fluently responded to it as well

When I entered the portals of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC, New Delhi ) in 1981, never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would get an opportunity to meet the Iron Lady of India, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Once the PM sat on the chair facing the group, IIMC director NL Chowla prompted us to introduce ourselves. We had expected her to be intimidating, but found that she had an affable aura. (HT File)

My fellow students in the year-long postgraduate diploma course in ‘journalism for developing countries’ were from countries such as Mauritius, Tunisia, Kenya, Afghanistan, and Laos.

Trainees were provided a rich exposure during the programme, which I cherish to this day. Renowned personalities such as then information and broadcasting minister Vasant Sathe and editor BG Verghese were invited to deliver talks, and we were also taken to the Parliament House to witness the proceedings from the galleries.

At the fag-end of the course, our batch was sent to different media houses for internship. I was assigned to Hindustan Times under the mentorship of its feisty chief reporter Prabha Dutt. Every morning, she would assign me some event and I would return to the newspaper’s office on Kasturba Gandhi Marg in the evening and compose the story on a typewriter. Much to my pride and delight, most stories filed by me appeared in the paper the next day. Once, I even rubbed shoulders with legendary cartoonist Sudhir Dar in the office’s elevator.

However, the highlight of the course was the privilege to interact with Gandhi at her residence after her spectacular comeback after the 1977 rout.

When I reached 1 Safdarjung Road, I found a crowd milling around her residence in hopes of meeting the PM. In those days, VVIP security was hardly obtrusive, a far cry from the impregnable security provided to PMs these days. The IIMC group was seated on the chairs arranged in the well-manicured lawn. Then arrived the charismatic Indira Gandhi, flanked by Sathe, and her personal assistant RK Dhawan.

Once the PM sat facing the group, IIMC director NL Chowla prompted us to introduce ourselves. We had expected her to be intimidating, but found that she had an affable aura. She spoke at length on a variety of issues of the day, including the role of the media, after which we were invited to ask questions.

I still regret my reticence that day as I missed the rare opportunity to probe her mind. One of the trainees asked her, which newspaper she read, to which Gandhi gave a tactful rejoinder, and when a Tunisian batchmate shot off a question in French, Gandhi not just understood it but responded fluently responded to it as well.

After the session ended, she stood up and chatted with us informally for a while in a warm see-off gesture.

chander59@icloud.com

( The writer is a Panchkula-based freelance contributor)