Page 9 - Seniors Today - January Issue
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10. The Protesting Farmer or they write for politicians. But the common
The face of the Kisan Ekta man needs context, needs explanation, needs
Morcha has been, not big history, and background. I brought that into
names or well-known it.”
faces, but one senior
citizen after another – 12. Lata Mangeshkar, 91, Playback Singer,
weather-beaten faces Music Director
that have seen season upon season of crops, The Nightingale of
weather patterns, government vagaries, India; she’s sung for
and are now refusing to tolerate the final thousands of Bollywood
straw of farming laws that they fear will film songs to date. She
corporatise India’s agriculture and reduce winces at the current
them to stooges – poor ones, at that. First in lyrics and music in
the anti-CAA/NRC protests and now in the Indian cinema in its current avatar and asks
opposition to the farm laws, seniors have been budding artists to aspire towards originality.
at the forefront of the movements and their Today she lends her immortal voice to the
say has been influential like never before. The battle against the construction of a proposed
edge of Delhi is an amazing (and unfortunate) flyover which threatens to rob the privacy
sight: a sea of determined farmers, from and health of Peddar Road residents.
strong young Punjab da puttars to their
equally tough grandparents. We bow to you. 13. Mahendra Mohan Gupta, 79, Media Baron
Gupta is the Editorial
11. Aroon Purie, 77, Media Baron Director of Dainik Jagran,
After a rather a daily newspaper read
serendipitous start in by over 5.5 cr people, and
print journalism with has also been voted as the
India Today, Purie has most credible source of
been the rock behind the news in a BBC-Reuters survey.
success of the group. A Jagran Prakashan has 12 print
constant source of encouragement to his staff, publications over five languages spanning
he makes sure that no stone is left unturned 15 states. It also has a significant presence
and every detail accounted for whilst in FM radio own Mid-Day in English
reporting. Although he says his exacting and Gujrati. A strong digital presence
standards were sometimes begrudged by and a newspaper in Urdu are some of the
his staff, the staff recognised that “the end- relatively recent highs.
result was good product” and even came
up with a friendly nickname for the editing 14. Deepak Parekh, 76, Banker
process— “Purification”—after him. In an As Chairman of HDFC
interview with Harvard Business School he (Housing Development
said, “I always looked at the magazine from Finance Corporation),
the reader’s point of view, always asking, “Can Parekh has combined
I understand what this article is saying?” A grit and determination
lot of journalists write for other journalists, with an intellect that is
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #19 | JANUARY 2021 9
