The News Paper

My first tryst with a piece of news paper was when I was 5 years old, and the roadside vender gave me peanuts wrapped in it. My father used to read news paper when he took his breakfast. The title of the newspaper “The Statesman” always fascinated me.

My real rendezvous began with the search of photos related with cricket in the sports page. My serious confrontation started when my father began giving me passages to read, write and discuss.

Then there was the first student disturbance in 1957 at Patna. When hearing the voice of the news paper vendor, I ran to the door, I found my elder brother already clutching the newspaper and escaping to a remote place in the house. The competition raged with time. Sometimes , I got beat up for not backing down or handing over the paper to my brother. He never liked taking one or two pages to share reading. He wanted all. The most surprising thing was that I never found him abstaining from waiting for the paper at the door or the outer gate as the case might be. It only subsided after 15 years when my brother went to Delhi to oblige an employment.

My father was an ardent reader of  NJ Nanporia, Pran Chopra and particularly S. Nihal Singh. He used to ask us to read their articles so that our command over English language strengthened. My brother reaped the harvest, and he opted for master degree in English and his English could easily be ranked with top notch of the time. It seemed that I was more interested in teasing my brother and making a hollow competition, the result was my English never reached the second step of the ladder. 
The fight for getting the print first remained alive with my younger brothers lining up with me , sometimes ahead of me.

I went for higher education in the science stream and took Masters degree in Physics. But my appetite to stand erect before my elder brother never succumbed. I learnt and relish one Latin phrase in Science, and that was Q.E. D.(quod erat demonstrandum, which translates as "which was to be demonstrated") . I chose only those matters to write which have a punch and that finish with a triumphant QED.

When, I was of my own, I remained a regular reader of “The Statesman”. When, my children became of age and needed some brushing up and keeping pace with advancement in various fields, I began purchasing “The Hindu”. This news paper had more educative material as compared to others in the 90’s.  My son, who used to go to catch the school bus in the morning, sometimes took the paper with him for reading during the long bus ride. 
Only last year, in 2011, my friendship with print media began diminishing as at 66 , my eye sight does not   relish small prints, and then there is the online media with the latest in happenings with YouTube to complement.

However, the crave always draws me to the gate now captured by sons of my younger brothers and their pet dogs. The dogs love to play tear-tear. Most of the times, when I used to return from my morning walk, I found news papers loitering on the pathway inside the gate. Sometimes, the dogs relished biting and tearing. To stop this nuisance, I instructed the vendor to position the paper on top of the cemented pillar of the gate so that the dogs have not their day.

I returned to my native town Ranchi after a gap of 9 months. The TV channel had to be revived ; the internet had to be reconnected. Next morning, I found two news papers waiting to be availed on the pillar of the gate. But I resisted my temptation. The papers remained there for almost two hours after which I found them to have been removed.

For several days when I returned from my morning walk, I used to find news papers kept at their assigned place on the pillar. One fine morning, I could not resist. I was sure that my nephews would need it after two hours. I assured myself that I would place back the papers after glancing through only after 15-20 minutes.

I reached my open verandah. I sat on the chair. I wore my reading glasses. My wife gave me my first cup of tea of the day. I took up the first news paper. That was  “ The Times of India”. And there was that big news,”India Against Corruption: Team Anna eyes 2014 polls, to call off fast today”. Suddenly a shadow fell on the news paper. I raised my head.

My young nephew was smiling, and his pet dog had a puzzled look in his eyes. Now people having concern with newspaper are getting up early in the morning.