E-Paper
When artiste?s scream woke up Indira
IS PASSION for perfection gave him name, fame and success. He keeps endeavouring till he achieves the best results. During his childhood, he used to argue with his father about the phrase: A jack of all trades, master of none.
HIS PASSION for perfection gave him name, fame and success. He keeps endeavouring till he achieves the best results. During his childhood, he used to argue with his father about the phrase: A jack of all trades, master of none.
"Why can't this phrase be reversed," used to be his usual question and his father's reply "though not all trades can be mastered, many of them can be. But that needs a lot of hard work, patience and perseverance" gave him an ever-lasting mantra. He adhered to his father's advice and reached the pinnacle of his career.
Raja Zutshi, whose first choice was to become a doctor and the second to join Army as an officer, feels destiny brought him to the world of theatre. But, he is happy with whatever he has achieved as a radio and theatre artiste. He feels himself a lucky person because he got opportunities to learn from the legendary figures in literature, theatre and broadcasting fields like Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri, Upendra Nath 'Ashq', Vimla Raina, KK Nayyar, Vijai Bose, SSS Thakur, Narmadeshwar Upadhyay, Dinanath, Deoki Nandan Pandey, Melville De Mello, Ashok Bajpai and Girija Kumar Mathur (Mathur had penned the song 'Hum hongey kamyab ek din).
Born on September 27, 1934, Zutshi did BSc from Allahabad University and joined All India Radio, Allahabad in 1955 and retired in 1992. During his career in AIR, he interviewed several persons of eminence like Late US President JF Kennedy's wife Jacqueline Kennedy, 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri, Dr Bhanu Shankar Mehta, film actor Dilip Kumar, KK Nayyar and others. He visited Pakistan for the coverage of the Fourth South Asian Federation Games in 1989 and China in 1990 to cover the 11th Asiad games. Besides, he covered many national and international conferences and other programmes during his 37-year-long career in AIR. Even at the age of 72, he is active in the fields of theatre and radio.
The excerpts from the interview:
The Rihand dam was to be inaugurated by the Late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and I had gone to cover the programme for AIR Allahabad. Panditji, who knew me by name, enquired as to what had I planned on behalf of AIR. I told him that in the beginning 'Vande mataram' would be recited and it would end with 'Jana gana mana'.
Nehruji asked me to choose a different song as people had come to attend the function from far off places and they must have been tired. "Suppose, some of them don't stand up to recite the pious songs due to fatigue, it would be an insult to the nation." I was compelled to feel Nehruji's respect for the nation.
The function was over by about 10 am and I had to rush back to Allahabad for broadcasting its coverage. When I asked Imtiyaz, driver of my jeep, whether it was possible to reach Allahabad on time, he told me that I should rest assured either he would reach me radio station on time or "Allah Miyan's home."
Ultimately, we succeeded in reaching the AIR station on time. However, totally exhausted Imtiyaz needed my help to come out of the vehicle.
Our team was in Delhi to stage the play 'Savera', which was based on the Five-Year Plan. We were rehearsing the play at Teen Murti House, official residence of the then Prime Minister Nehruji, in late night. According to script of the play, Asha Browne, a great artiste, shrieked. Suddenly, Indira Gandhi woke up and opened the doors to enquire as to what went wrong. We apologised and told her that we were simply rehearsing the play. Indiraji's concern was realised by all of us.
Once, Late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri came to Varanasi to inaugurate a project. He was sitting on the floor to offer 'havan' and I stood just behind him for coverage. When the havan was complete, Shastriji tried to stand up twice but sat down abruptly. Then he smiled at me and said: "Yaar meri dhoti to chhor." Though I was apologetic, he kept smiling. Shastriji, in fact, epitomised a modest, loving and caring leader.
Late Deoki Nandan Pandey was a perfect news-reader and had a unique control over his breath. Sometimes, while he was reading bulletins, I tried to distract him but to no avail. Deoki Nandan Pandey and Melville De Mello treated me like their younger brother. KK Nayyar, a great broadcaster and former DDG of AIR, still inspires me.
