Way back in 1993, it was a small office in Gulmohur Park where as a journalism student at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), I was supposed to give my final interview to Vinod Dua for joining the team of 'Parakh'.
The initial rounds were already done, and my batch of the IIMC was about to enter the industry when news on TV meant only two programmes: The World This Week and Parakh. And celebrity anchors on TV meant only two faces: Vinod Dua and Prannoy Roy.
Almost a decade earlier, it was the 72-hour-long 'Election Night' broadcast of 1984 that got a schoolkid like me hooked to the world of psephology. To say that I was star-struck while entering Vinod Dua’s office would be an understatement.
“So when are you joining?” came the first question.
“Sir, I am not joining,” I replied.
“Tab itni lambi qawayad kyun karwai bhai?? "(Then why did you force such a long process of selection?)
“Bas.. aapse milna chahta tha.” (I just wanted to see you in person.)
And then he laughed like anything. He asked if I was joining anywhere else. I told him I wanted to start my own election research firm.
“Kathin kaam hai, par acchi baat hai, koshish zaroor kariye. Mauka laga to saath kaam karenge kabhi” (It's a difficult job, try your best. If the opportunity arises, we will work together in the future).
He wished me well and gave me two books to read: Jail diary of Bhagat Singh and Raag Darbari. “Isko baar baar padhiyega, ye samanya upansyaas nahin hai” (Read this again and again, it's not an ordinary novel), he said about Raag Darbaari.
When I was about to leave, I tried to touch his feet, and he stopped me. “Arey, ye mat kijiye, main koi bhagwan nahin hoon, I am a normal person, I love food, I like my music, I like my books, and yes, I like my drink with friends every evening.”
Years later, I realised, he defined himself exactly the way Vinod Dua was. Only difference was, now I was allowed to touch his feet because of being relentless about my set of values. When surrounded by others, he would simply say "khush raho," and tell them “I have given up on the bugger, ye bigad hi nahin raha hai.”
"In Vinod Dua's Clothes, Literally"
Fast-forward five years, both of us were sitting together at Taj Hotel in Mumbai, addressing the media at the launch of Zee News.
The Lok Sabha elections were coinciding with the launch. He was the face of election coverage and Cvoter was hired for number crunching. “Bola than na, saath kaam kaenge.”
We were asked for a photoshoot and I skipped with other team members of Zee without realising that I was also supposed to do my bit. He called me out, and embarrassingly I told him that I don’t have any formal clothing. Not just for the photo session, I actually didn’t have any. He asked me to follow him to his room, opened his suitcase (he always used to carry a big one for travel, Chinna ensured he had everything he was fussy about) and gave me one of his Jackets and tie.
“Dheela hoga; lekin peeche se pin laga denge wo log. Kaam ho jayega.” (It will be slightly loose but will do the job). And thus my first ever photo session happened, all the promo material, newspaper advertisements, hoarding, etc, had me in Vinod Dua’s clothes, literally.
Photoshoot over, entire brigade of colleagues as well as Mumbai media proceeded for the lunch at the five-star hotel. We all chatted for some time with the guests and then I realised Vinod ji was not eating. I asked should I get a plate for him and he whispered “just skip.”
So I skipped the meal. An hour later, we got into a car of his friend, drove for about 20 minutes, that too into some small lanes, and reached a small stall of a vada pav vendor. The camaraderie between the vendor and Vinod ji was easy to pick as they knew each other by first name. Skipping the meal at a five-star hotel and stuffing ourselves at a street vendor, this was such a known routine for him which every team member over the years could vouch for.
In just three days in Mumbai, he took me to places which would drive today's tour guides on Lonely Planet to shame. I knew my journey to understand phenomenon called Vinod Dua has finally begun.
'Brought Me to Life on TV'
Back in Delhi, the programming and shows started. My first ever election live show was with him and I was sweating bullets. Not that, I had not faced a camera earlier, but there is a huge difference in recording and going live.
He immediately sensed that I was nervous. The main cameraperson started the countdown on his fingers and I started gulping water. He turned to me and said; “Forget the camera, you just turn to me and only talk to me whenever you have to.”
That worked. I just had to turn slightly towards him, and start talking to him just like my normal conversation, without even looking at the camera. Then came the commercial break, and he said, "Now imagine it's my face in place of the camera and start talking to the camera. Address the camera as “Vinod ji”.
He made me practise for a few times, and few minutes later I actually was live looking into the camera and addressing it as “Vinod ji”. With this Yashwant Deshmukh was born on TV. It was Vinod Dua who brought him to life.
'A Walking Talking University'
He was a walking-talking university for me and countless others. He corrected me so many times in live broadcast, without even letting the audience know that he was correcting me. Of course, I knew every time, and kept on taking mental notes.
While explaining one graphics on rating of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi, I mentioned the numbers as “Atal ji ki ratings xyz hai aur Sonia Gandhi ki rating xyz hai.”
In the very next commercial break, Vinod Dua whispered in my ears: ”Kakey, ye baat gaanth bandh le, ya to Atal ji aur Sonia ji kehna hai; ya phir kewal Atal aur Sonia kehna hai. Jab aap on air ho, tab Ya to dono ke peeche “ji” lagega ya phir dono logon ko unke single naam se hi bulaoge.” (Either address them both as ji or address them both by their first names. When you are on air, this is a rule. Lesson well learnt, and that cardinal rule was never broken in last 20-plus years.
When on air, he was firm, yet respectful with all the guests, kept on asking all the uncomfortable questions, and telling the guests point-blank that this was not the question that they answered.
He was always unapologetic for his questions and relentless to make the big names accountable for the answers. On many occasions, we disagreed on issues or personalities. But he always respected my opinion and never put me down even though I was just a rookie. He would simply repeat what he thought on a certain number and repeat what I analysed in contrast, and left it to audience to apply their wisdom.
Gave Me a Chance When Others Didn't
My first association with Zee was rather brief, courtesy two big-shot editors who all of a sudden “discovered” that my father was a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stalwart. They followed me like James Bond in their car to report back that I used to visit my parents every evening from the studio, which apparently was a crime in Lutyens media if your father happened to be an RSS person. I was literally shunted out the channel for the crime of visiting my parents.
After my contract was terminated, I got a call from Vinod ji that he wanted to meet me at the Press Club. Needless to say, I was hurt and in tears. He said in a sobering voice:
“Aapke saath jo kiya gaya, wo galat tha (what was done to you was wrong). I called you to say two things: first, I will continue working with you in my personal capacity as and when I will get a chance to do so. Second, I wanted to meet you at Press Club in public so that every Tom, Dick and Harry can see and know that I am with you.”
He kept his promise, and soon enough he called me to take care of the research inputs of his morning show 'Pratidin' at news channel launched by Sahara. The show was about the headlines in various newspapers every morning and my team used to work overnight to get front pages of regional newspapers.
In those early days of internet, very few newspapers had websites and our stringers in different cities used to literally fax the cuttings at 3 am in the morning. My typical day started at 2 am for this. Vinod ji used to come at 5:30 am in studio for the recoding and show was aired at 8 am sharp. This was a routine for seven days a week. After few months he said he needed a break and told the channel heads that he wants weekends to be anchored by someone else. They asked him to suggest a replacement, and he popped up my name.
So, on my first solo show as the so called “replacement of Vinod Dua” happened that very week. I reached studio at 4 am, did my homework, got ready, and at 5 am sharp, I got a call from Vinod ji.
“Pappu, kya kar raha hai?” (what are you up to?) He used to call me that because Batman had a ‘pappu‘ as in Robin, who was always there as a standby in case Batman was unavailable to save the Gotham city.
“Ji bhaiyya, tayyar ho raha hoon..” (just getting ready). I always used to call him bhaiyya, never sir or Vinod or any other name.
“Neeche aa ja” (come downstairs). I was surprised that he was still there in his car at that point of time, even though he had taken an 'off' to relax. I asked him why he drove all the way from Civil Lines to Noida when he was not required to.
“I came to tell you two things: First, Vinod Dua kitna bhi sar patak lein, wo kabhi Yashwant Deshmukh nahin ban sakte. Second, Yashwant kitna bhi sar patak lein wo Vinod Dua nahin ban sakte. So be yourself. Don’t take the pressure. You are not doing the first show as replacement of Vinod Dua. You are doing the first show of Yashwant Deshmukh,” he said.
Thus, Yashwant Deshmukh was born again on TV. Simply as Yashwant Deshmukh.
Countless days, countless lessons later, our relationship evolved and I did not even realise when he started introducing me as his colleague and a stand-alone professional. He would seamlessly shift to a formal mode of conversation in presence of others and go back to “Oye kakey” the moment it was just a conversation with us.
He helped so many without even talking about it. Sandeep Chowdhary would confirm that so many names in so-called media industry would be on our shows; just because Vinod ji wanted to help them by ensuring they receive their guest appearance fee in times of crisis. None of those thankless names ever acknowledged what Vinod ji did for them, yet, we would get the routine call from Vinod ji.
”Oye kakey, unko bula liya kar hafte mein ek baar, unki arthik haalat theek nahin hai. Thodi help ho jayegi unko” (Call them on the show once a week, it will help them a little financially). That was Vinod ji being himself, he remained the same and the same can be said for those thankless scribes.
'I Blame You for What I Am Today'
An amusing incident happened a few years ago. My daughter celebrated her first teachers' day in her school and was pretty excited about drawing a 'Thank You' card for her teachers. "Did you say thank you to your teacher today?"
I was confused. And she insisted that I must call my teacher and say thank you. So, rather amusingly, to pacify her, I picked up the phone and called Vinod ji to explain why I am calling him. With my daughter staring right at me, on the speakerphone I said thank you to my teacher, for making me what I am today. He said a few nice lines so that my daughter could listen and be happy about. Then he asked me whether she was happy, I confirmed, and said goodbye.
Two minutes later, I got a callback. When confirmed that he was not on speakerphone anymore, he says: “oye kakey, wo thank you toh theek hai, but why blame me for what you are today?” And we both burst into laughter. I am absolutely sure he would have narrated this to all his friends who would have met him that day.
Thank you teacher. And I do blame you for what I am today.
(Yashwant Deshmukh is Founder of C-Voter)
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