A longtime reader who visited Deccan Herald on the day it got a design makeover describes the newspaper as a teacher who taught him many invaluable lessons.
“My father, C R Kamath was the editor of a newspaper called Renecent India published before independence, and this meant my siblings and I were exposed to newspapers from our early days,” recalls C Venkatesh Kamath, retired engineer.
When he began reading English-language newspapers, Deccan Herald was the first he picked up.
“Between 1950-1955, newspapers usually reached us late, but Deccan Herald (DH) was the only English-language paper that reached our house in the morning. I particularly used to read the letters to the editor,” he says.
Venkatesh was about 10 when he got familiar with English. He spent most of his time looking at black and white photographs published in the daily, until his family’s intense discussions about current affairs got him curious about the text.
“I wanted to know how they knew so much. They would just tell me to read. I began, and got used to a new vocabulary,” says Kamath.
Now 70, he credits the paper for widening his horizons. “Deccan Herald taught me many new things about science, English and society, just like a teacher,” he says.
60 years of readership
Initially, Kamath had no clue about newspaper design, as “there was nothing to compare Deccan Herald with.”
After he saw other newspapers, he began to understand and appreciate the paper better.
“When I went to do my engineering, I came across competing newspapers – originally not Indian, they were owned by foreigners but an edition was brought here. They presented one picture whereas DH presented local news, while also keeping in mind the pan-India view. It was a Karnataka paper. It was my paper,” he says.
Did he ever consider switching to other newspapers?
“As a professional engineer and technical consultant working for national companies and MNCs, I had to look at other newspapers, but my personal preference was always DH,” he says.
When he was posted in Chennai, he made sure he got a copy of Deccan Herald from one of the stalls selling it in that city and devoured all the columns.
Despite his enthusiasm for journalism, he never considered it a career option.
“We were a lower-middle-class family; I studied in a government school and did all my schooling on scholarships. I used to score higher marks than expected of me. My family insisted I get into engineering as that was in great demand in those days,” he explains.
Fiction and travel
Kamath also reads magazines, autobiographies and detective fiction.
“I love to travel. I am fortunate enough that my profession allows me to do that frequently. I have travelled to almost every part of India, and done a few trips abroad,” he says.