Our perception about politicians is generally a bunch of snollygosters. But contrary to what we make of them they may have something on the lines of Marcus Aurelius to kill the critic in us who says, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” My former employer at Take1 Television belonged to the latter elk.
A man whose influence ran across the length and breadth of India,was no less achiever than an Emperor, still would give his ‘praja’ a regal feeling.
Being a politician he never let his political loyalties get into his business ventures and dealt with them with such effervescent ease as very few Media moguls would. I remember once his party leader was furious not to have his mention in the Take1 News Bulletin. His first reaction was, “I don’t get to decide the content of the channel owing allegiance to me”. This left the politician aghast. When he, agitated, called for the response from the business end, Rana Sir enquired from us at the editorial desk and fired back; “Sir, your piece has already been aired, rest there is no reason to this razzmatazz”, though he knew that wasn’t the case.
He would always maintain, “Your run-order should be right in line with journalistic ethics.”
As I flashback to the days when I was cutting teeth in media I dropped my first resume after passing out from Media Education Research Centre of Kashmir University and earned an appointment. The appointment letter had very little to boast of, but the pile of experience we got while working for a regional channel was humongous. For a person donning many hats, my former employer Devender Rana would get little time to meet the people in Srinagar over months. Nonetheless,when I finally met the man behind this media enterprise, I was blown over by the halo effect that he had. His first words were, “My political affiliations should never reflect in the editorial content of my channel.”
To a student of mass communication, here was an iconic personality whose eloquence would turn you into an impression fossil. His every tete-a-tete with you was brief yet evaluative and substantial for the good of the organization. Devendra Singh Rana was a Corporate Chanakya in his own rights and one of the most erudite speakers with a baritone that would announce his grand arrival wherever he went.
If Jamkash the Vehicleades had a personified image it was Devendra Singh Rana.
Here was a Media Baron who chose local media to make an impact.
I remember many of the instances of his thorough professionalism but something stands out for what this man stood for. Once he became an advisor to the then government he called us up and directed in unequivocal terms, “From now on, I will stay aloof with regard to how you run your news channel …I simply can’t be a party to your editorial board”. This is something we had read in our bible of journalism but to see someone at the apex of our organization turning into a monk and selling his Ferrari was contrary to the perspective you hold about the people in power.
The stand-out takeaway was the meeting he had with me during the induction of the celebrated broadcaster Tulha Jehangir’s as News Incharge. I remember how he borrowed from the scripture to send a nuanced meaning.”Wa-tuizu- mantasha-wa- tuzillu mantasha”,which equates to: “And He honours whom He wills, and He disgraces whom He wills”
Those were the days when Mr Tulha Jehangir needed Take1 just as much as Take1 needed him.To this day Mr Tulha doesn’t forget the benevolence of late Rana and as a media observer I believe it was nothing short of the second coming for Tulha, who made a grand comeback in media circles thanks to that launching pad.
Once DSR as a politician touched greater heights his response even in the worst of times was dignified. He would never engage in political slugfest. It is a tribute to the kind of person he was.
Rana was just like the genesis of his surname – a Rajput at heart and equivalent of his name ‘Devendra’-King who lived for the pleasure of gods and died with the virtues of godliness.
Altaf Ahmad Khan, former Bureau Chief at Take1 Television
