An encounter with a living dinosaur

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Did he really say that? Did he actually say that I would make a good journalist??

Wow!!! I was on cloud number 9 for almost half an hour. It’s not every day that you are given a compliment from a person from such a high reputation.

TJS George called him “one of the best editors of this generation” and according to some others he is one of the last members of “the fastest vanishing tribes in Indian media – independent editors.”

Have you guessed by now who I’m talking about is? Well I’ll give you a few more clues that will literally give you his name on a silver platter.

Hmmm... He was the editor of the ‘Sunday’ magazine, started ‘The Telegraph’ and ‘Asian Age’. He recently was unceremoniously removed from the post of editor of the ‘Asian Age.’ I’m sure you have figured that it is the one and only MJ Akbar.

He recently came to our college and gave us a talk. When I first found out that he was coming I was excited and I told my friend and editor of The Manipal Journal (which is a weekly news website) that I would do an interview with him. “Do you even know anything about him??” she asked in a slightly angry tone. All I knew about him at that point of time was that he was the ex-editor of the Asian Age and also that he was one of the best editors in India.

After reading up about him a bit further I was in awe of him, so much so that I actually felt a bit nervous and I wondered if I would be able to do the interview with him. But the moment he entered the hall and I felt at ease. He was smiling at everyone and wasn’t as I pictured him to be (a slightly strict and less cordial).

For the next hour or so there was almost no sound in the hall (which is very rare in colleges I might add!!). No, they weren’t sleeping!! Everyone was actually listening to what he was saying!!

At the end of the talk and a question and answer session, all those who wanted an interview with him were asked to come to the lobby. There were five excluding me. We all had to ask questions one by one. I was sitting the closest to him, so I was the first to ask a question. One thought went over and over in my head ‘don’t make a fool of yourself in front of him.’

I guess I didn’t. The whole meeting and the interview felt dreamlike. It was almost as if I had an encounter with a living dinosaur!!