Mumbai, Jan 25 (PTI) A former director in Maharashtra Government’s information department still remembers her encounter with Sir Mark Tully, while she was posted as District Information Officer at Dhule.
“One morning in January 1991, my doorbell rang. I thought it must be the milkman. Still half-asleep, I opened the door and held out the milk container,” said Shraddha Belsaray-Kharkar, who retired as Director (News) in 2014.
“An unfamiliar voice said: Good morning. Can I meet Ms Belsaray? I looked up in surprise to see a tall, imposing and fair-skinned European man standing before me with a smiling face. I am Mark Tully,” she recalled the veteran journalist introducing himself.
The officer told PTI that she was surprised, and wondered what business could he have with her.
“I invited him in and offered him a chair. We started talking while sipping tea. As it was the week of Makar Sankranti, I also offered him Tilgul Ladoo, made from sesame seeds and jaggery. My hunch was correct. He wanted information about the Sardar Sarovar project rehabilitation work,” she said.
“In a typical bureaucratic manner, I suggested that he contact my senior officers, and also gave him a few names. He insisted that I show him the rehabilitation work himself, and added that is why he has come knocking,” she said.
Belsaray-Kharkar said she told Tully that it would be nice if a media house like the BBC highlighted the good work the government was doing.
“Then I took him to Taloda in north Maharashtra, located near the borders of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, and showed him the rehabilitation work. The entire day, he was engrossed in watching the work progress,” she said.
“The next day, the BBC published the report. Tully began the news report by saying, “Shraddha Belsaray, a young and talented District Information Officer from Dhule, India, told me…” she said.
The former official said she soon received a call from her superiors in the ministry. “In typical government fashion, I was reprimanded for speaking to the BBC without permission from my senior officers. All my enthusiasm vanished,” she said.
“However, then Director Dinkar Kachare came to my rescue, saying I had done the right thing by giving information about the government’s good work to the media,” she said.
“Today, when I heard the sad news of Mark Tully’s passing away, I remembered his calm and sonorous voice. I also remembered the effort he put into the news story. I recalled his graceful and professional conduct and it made me feel good,” she said.
Broadcaster and journalist Sir Mark Tully, for many years known as the BBC’s “voice of India”, passed away on Sunday at the age of 90 at a hospital in Delhi after suffering multi-organ failure. PTI VT
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