Pattabhiram - A Seasoned Journalist

[Sri Mamidipudi Pattabhiram was a regular contributor of a widely appreciated feature article on the political scene to our TRIVENI after the demise of his illustrious father Venkatarangaiah garu who used to write for our journal. When his article did not appear once (on account of his illness) readers made anxious enquiries. His absence is a great loss to the 70 year old journal. - Editor].

If youth habits excitements, age has its anxieties. Especially after completing the biblical span of three score and ten. The exit of old friends and close contemporaries leaves one all the more lonely.

Mamidipudi Pattabhi Ram (who passed away on 28 June, 1997) was one of my oldest friends and colleagues in the profession. I knew him for almost half-a-­century (49 years to be exact). When I joined the Indian Express, in Madras in May 1948 as a sub-editor, he was already there in the Editorial Department, with a service of a couple of years.

He had shifted to The Hindu later in the same year (i.e. in November) and continued there, without a break, till the end of his career, his life in fact. He died in harness, after a service of 49 years. It was probably a record in English daily journalism in India, may be with a few exceptions. It was by dint of sheer hard work and unstinted loyalty to the institution that he rose to the position of Associate Editor.

Pattabhi Ram (Pattabhi to close friends and MPR to others) made a mark in the profession because of qualities that wear well. He was not flashy or flamboyant. Whatever he wrote was well documented, comprehensive in scope, balanced in judgment, restrained in expression. He kept a low profile and was allergic to sensation and controversy. But he stood his ground, when anyone tried to challenge his facts or contradict him with insufficient evidence and other data at one’s disposal.

He was also an able all-rounder. After adequate experience as a sub-editor, he was put in reporting. He did well, first as a Staff Correspondent in Calcutta, later as a member of the New Delhi bureau of the paper. In 1973-74, while in Delhi on transfer, I had the opportunity of meeting him now and then. Once he took me along with him when he met Dr. S. D. Sharma, then Congress President for gathering news. It was obvious that he was respected by all the dignitaries concerned, as he was reliable and kept confidences.

Earlier, while in Madras, he was sent out on a tour of Andhra Pradesh for gauging the mood of the people on the eve of the elections in 1957. His reports were perceptive; and he was able to anticipate correctly the victory of the Congress.

Journalism is a profession in which entrants come in all shapes and sizes. Or, to put it more precisely, with different academic grounds, intellectual equipments and professional skills. Pattabhi Ram came to it with ample resources in all these respects. After Economics Honours from Loyola College, he took his Law degree and was apprenticed in the chambers of V. Govindarajachari (who was later elevated to the Bench). But before long, he switched over to journalism.

In 1947-48, I used to see him, a slim six-­footer, clad in Khadi, entering the Express Office, them situate on Round Thana in a building, later to be occupied by Udipi Sri Krishna Bhavan. Having trodden the same path, i.e. Honours and Law, with training in journalism, I was, partly atleast, encouraged to emulate his example by joining the Express first, and later The Hindu, where I could see him at work as a colleague for about five years.

Businesslike in his work, he was quick to grasp and prompt in subbing. Never fussy about anything, he seldom spoke about himself. It was part of his good breeding. His respect for his father (Prof. Venkatarangaiya) was unqualified. He collaborated with him in the preparation of a book on Local Self-government besides writing one on Indian elections on his own. Small wonder that in cultivating a spirit of objectivity, he was deeply influenced by the example of his father, who was a distinguished academic.

Indian politics, with particular reference to Andhra affairs, was his forte. For many years till the end of his life he contributed a regular feature on the Indian political scene to the TRIVENI quarterly as his father did earlier in his time. He had wide contacts with political leaders and civil servants in Delhi and Hyderabad, apart from those in Madras where he spent the best part of his adult life. His friends and acquaintances were drawn from all linguistic and cultural groups.

In his personal life, Pattabhi Ram could be described as an enlightened conservative. He was widely travelled, but he had not gone “Phorren” in his way of life. He represented in himself a happy blend of enterprise and caution, sociability and reserve, openness and deep roots.