Writing came relatively easy to me, journalism was series of accidents: Vir Sanghvi tells veteran journalist Prem Prakash

New Delhi [India], August 7 (ANI): Writing was the natural thing to do and journalism was a series of accidents, senior journalist, author and TV anchor Vir Sanghvi told veteran journalist Prem Prakash in a conversation about his new book 'A Rude Life: The Memoir'.

“Journalism was a series of accidents. Writing was one thing I was good at. So it was the natural thing to do. I became one of the youngest editors of the school magazine. Writing came relatively easy to me,” Sanghvi said at an event held through video conference.

Veteran journalist Prem Prakash, who is ANI Chairman, said Sanghvi was a self-made person and his life has been full of action.

“Having read the whole book, you are a self-made person. Right from age of 15 years when you had to take your own decision of finding a school and for all the work you have done, you named your book ‘A rude life’. Your life has not been rude. It has been full of action and adventure. There is so much to learn from it,” he said.

"I accepted the idea of releasing this book immediately because I have very high regard for Vir," he added. 

Vir Sanghvi, who has worked with various publications including Hindustan Times and India Today, has penned his life’s journey in the memoir.

After his father’s demise when he was 15, Sanghvi went to England to his relative’s place and found a suitable school to continue his studies.

He also recalled an incident concerning veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who passed away last month. He said police were probing about a diary recovered from a “spy” and it apparently had Dilip Kumar’s name. The actor was traumatised.   

 “My father knew Dilip Kumar. One day he came to see my father and he looked pale. He said I think they are going to arrest me. Everyone in that generation had a real sense of nation-building and Dilip Kumar was pretty much at the forefront of those efforts,” Sanghvi said.

Veteran journalist Prem Prakash also recalled an incident related to the police in the pre-Independence era and said his father told him that police were carrying 32 prisoners and two of them ran away and “they picked up two more from the streets just because they had to give the number 32”.

Sanghvi was asked about the process of choice of new leader when the Janata Party government came to power after the post-Emergency elections in 1977.

He said there should have been an election. “I thought it was appalling because they had won this election saying that they opposed the undemocratic tendencies of Indira Gandhi. The newly-elected parliamentary party was formed. There should have been an election for the new leader. Instead, Kriplani and JP met MPs individually and decided that they were going to make Morarji Desai the Prime Minister,” he said.  

 “I thought it was a mistake for many reasons. First of all, there should have been an election. Secondly, when you have a coalition, which we never had at the Centre in India, you need somebody who can do a little bit of give and take, and someone who can manage a coalition," he added. (ANI)