Remembering a newspaper
K S S Pillai
The other day, I got a message from a descendant of the family that owned the defunct Malayala Rajyam Newspaper and Weekly, which were prominent Malayalam publications.
He informed me that a souvenir was being planned in remembrance of both publications and requested me to contribute an article. He had read one of my articles published in ‘The Kashmir Vision’ newspaper about my maiden publication in the form of a letter to the editor in the Malayala Rajyam Weekly in 1959.
I was a student in my village till 1958. My father used to subscribe to the newspaper and the Weekly during that period. The paper boy would come early in the morning and start ringing the bell of his bicycle continuously as he neared our home.
My elder brother and I, though busy getting ready for school, would rush to catch hold of the paper thrown there by the boy who continued to ride without reducing the speed of his bicycle. Our father would allow us to read the newspaper first, as we had to attend school at ten.
He was of the view that the paper was reliable and reported without prejudice. We knew that he patronised it as its political leaning was the same as his. At times, we had heard him discussing politics with our neighbour, who came in the afternoon to read the paper.
There were very few advertisements in the print media, and they were small to save money. We never came across full-page or even half-page advertisements. Multi-colour advertisements had not yet made their appearance.
After glancing at the headlines, we used to go directly to the sports section. We would then scan the columns announcing deaths and search the districts where our relatives stayed. We would also have a quick glimpse of wedding photos.
If the paper was not delivered on any day, it would be noted in the wall calendar and checked when the bill was presented. The old newspapers would be neatly folded and stored. They would be sold to a nearby grocery shop at the end of every month, which would use them for packing goods for its customers.
All family members used to read the Weekly. The womenfolk liked fiction and articles that discussed family problems.
I took more interest in the Weekly when it started a column of letters to the editor. Readers were invited to write short letters of general interest to the editor. The best letter was awarded a prize of ₹5. I was then studying in the Pre-university class at NSS College, Pandalam.
After staying initially with my uncle a few kilometres away, I started commuting from home when a private bus service began between my village and Pandalam with concessional rates for students. There was a return trip in the evening that coincided with the college timing. The driver, an elderly man with a silvery moustache, was friendly with the students and kept a seat near him vacant for students in the morning. The bus was always overcrowded. I wrote a letter to the editor with the caption ‘Journey by Private Bus’ and was pleasantly surprised to find it published next week.
It was placed in a box and adjudged the best letter of the week. Seeing my name in print for the first time and the announcement of the prize took me to cloud nine. I showed it proudly to all. Soon, the postman came with the prize money. My father allowed me to go to his friend’s textile shop alone and buy a shirt. I got it stitched on the spot by one of the tailors running his business on the shop’s veranda. Even after paying the tailoring charges, I had some money left.
The publication of that letter boosted my self-confidence and might have influenced my career selection as a teacher and an occasional writer of articles and short stories.
I lost contact with the paper after I left my village in 1960, but my father continued to subscribe to the newspaper. Years later, when I heard that the newspaper and the Weekly had stopped publication, I felt a part of my past joining eternity.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his short stories and articles have appeared in numerous national and international publications)
