The not-so-eagerly awaited 47th annual meeting of Thuglak readers took place on January 14th at the Music Academy. Surprisingly, it was well attended despite the unfortunate absence of CHO.
Purpose of this meeting was only to pay tribute to the memory of the unique satirist. Readers were not allowed to express their sentiments. 'In keeping with the solemnity of the event', only the five on the dais spoke. They were Padma Subramaniam, N.Ravi, G.Viswanathan, Rajinikanth and S.Gurumurthy.
Padma Subramaniam spoke of her family's long relationship with Cho's. She repeatedly broke down, but was able to regain her composure immediately. N.Ravi, deputising for N.Ram, was matter-of-fact just like The Hindu. He referred to Cho's strong espousal of freedom of expression.
G.Viswanathan, educationist, eulogised Cho's quality of listening to views contrary to his before tearing them apart. He acknowledged Cho's contribution in his electoral success.
Rajinikanth proved that he is a talented speaker. His gesticulations (mannerisms?) added value. His talk was as witty as it was profound. Gurumurthy said that Cho had identified him as the next editor of Thuglak as early as 1989. He promised to continue Thuglak as a fearless magazine. He acknowledged the contribution made by every employee of the magazine.
Can Gurumurthy maintain the enviable standards set by Cho? It is too early to comment on this. Gurumurthy has safely hedged his position saying that Thuglak is what it is because of its staff members. So the burden of living up to the benchmark is not on his shoulders alone.
The meet culminated in a live video-talk by Narendra Modi who confirmed that like others, he also benefitted immensely by Cho's sagacious objective advice.
Purpose of this meeting was only to pay tribute to the memory of the unique satirist. Readers were not allowed to express their sentiments. 'In keeping with the solemnity of the event', only the five on the dais spoke. They were Padma Subramaniam, N.Ravi, G.Viswanathan, Rajinikanth and S.Gurumurthy.
Padma Subramaniam spoke of her family's long relationship with Cho's. She repeatedly broke down, but was able to regain her composure immediately. N.Ravi, deputising for N.Ram, was matter-of-fact just like The Hindu. He referred to Cho's strong espousal of freedom of expression.
G.Viswanathan, educationist, eulogised Cho's quality of listening to views contrary to his before tearing them apart. He acknowledged Cho's contribution in his electoral success.
Rajinikanth proved that he is a talented speaker. His gesticulations (mannerisms?) added value. His talk was as witty as it was profound. Gurumurthy said that Cho had identified him as the next editor of Thuglak as early as 1989. He promised to continue Thuglak as a fearless magazine. He acknowledged the contribution made by every employee of the magazine.
Can Gurumurthy maintain the enviable standards set by Cho? It is too early to comment on this. Gurumurthy has safely hedged his position saying that Thuglak is what it is because of its staff members. So the burden of living up to the benchmark is not on his shoulders alone.
The meet culminated in a live video-talk by Narendra Modi who confirmed that like others, he also benefitted immensely by Cho's sagacious objective advice.
No comments:
Post a Comment