Warrior of the Fourth Estate: Ramnath Goenka of the Express

by B.G. Verghese

Ramnath Goenka was a man of many parts - freedom fighter, Gandhian worker, politician, merchant, industrialist and newspaper magnate. But more than anything else he was an indomitable warrior for the freedom of the Press, whose frontiers he fearlessly defended and pushed, often at enormous cost to himself. His mission as a newspaper publisher was to empower the citizen, uphold his right to know, and to make all those in power and authority accountable to the people - a mission that he carried out with unflagging, if sometimes excessive, zeal. During the Emergency, Ramnath Goenka - or RNG as he came to be popularly known - waged an epic battle of defiance against a vindictive government, and in later years launched a relentless campaign against corruption, which won him staunch admirers as well as bitter enemies. The targets of his campaigns included prime ministers, political leaders, corporate raiders, trade unionists and tycoons. B.G. Verghese's biography charts the tumultuous course of Goenka's life, from his modest beginnings to his building of the vast Indian Express empire with its multiple editions, which reached out to readers in the remotest corners of the country. contradictions - a wealthy man of property who lived an austere life; who was parsimonious to a fault yet could be exceedingly generous; who adored gossip and intrigue and was at the same time deeply spiritual; one of the most powerful men in India who was deeply lonely in his personal life; a man you could love or hate but never ignore.

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Bhawana Somaaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a story of Ramnath Goenka, who was a freedom fighter, a Gandhian worker, a politician, a merchant, an industrialist and finally a media magnet. It follows the court battles, the controversies, the making and unmaking of the political leaders. It is like a roller coaster ride, a pot boiler, and what is important is that all the questions it raised at that time are still relevant today. I feel particularly proud to recommend this book because I have been editor of Screen and belong to the Indian Express Group and believe in their ideology.

[RustyJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stumbled upon this book at a bookstore (Blossoms, Bangalore) - one reason why in the age of on-line book purchases I still like browsing through bookstores in person. Picked this more out of intrigue than interest. Had heard stories about the legendary Ramnath Goenka (RNG) - press baron and founder of the Indian Express, an institution in itself that has spawned the best of journalistic talent, but never figured there was a biography on the man.

Though commissioned by the Express Group, the author does not eulogise RNG. Since RNG had passed away (as had most of his family and close acquaintances) by the time the book was commissioned and the author was not from the inner circle or family of RNG,he relies to an extent on interviews with those few that came in contact with RNG and more extensively on news articles in both the Express and other publications of its time as well as copies of correspondence from the Express archives. The result is a biography that reads more like a documentary, categorised into major topics that occupied RNG's life. Since these topics overlap each other chronologically, the biography does not follow a strict timeline - there is a broad chronological progression across the book while each chapter in itself has chronological stamp.

Due credit to the author, for having pieced together the persona of a man as complex as RNG with a life so full, though at times one wishes there was more. By the end of the book, the reader certainly has an idea of RNG the man, his character, his eccentricities and all that defined him. Since RNG was involved closely in politics, business, journalism, the story of RNG's life is also the story of India in the last century. This is all the more so since RNG had a hand in many of the events that shaped Indian history: drafting of the Indian Constitution (RNG was part of the committee and is a signatory), the Nehru years and disillusionment, the Indira Gandhi years, emergency, the Rajiv Gandhi years with the initial glimmer of hope that quickly gave way to disappointment to RNG, the clashes with Reliance Industries et al.,

Strongly recommended read if contemporary history, current events, biographies or any of the events in the preceding paragraph interest you.

A 3.5 out of 5.