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My Date with History
‘It was a grisly sight. The zeal and fervour with which the karsevaks were taking part in the demolition job sent a chill down our spines. Those who had no tools to use were scratching away like madmen with their fingernails on the domes. A few young men tied a noose around the domes and were trying to pull them down.’
When the CPI(M)-led Left Front was swept to power in 1977, Suman was twenty years old. His upbringing in an educated middle-class family, his brief brush with politics during his student days at the Presidency College and his friendship with people, many of whom would later play important roles in politics, enabled Suman to critically watch the world around him change irrevocably. By the time the Left Front firmly dug its political heels in Bengal through its second thumping victory in the 1983 Assembly polls, Suman had taken his first step into journalism.
As a journalist, Suman’s USP has always been his insistence to be at the spot where news breaks, notwithstanding his official position.
He was among the first handful of journalists to be in Kabul, just before the fall of the Soviet-propped regime, he was the first Indian journalist to arrive in Moscow (that too without a valid passport!) as the Soviet regime withered away, he was in Islamabad to cover the Rajiv Gandhi–Benazir Bhutto agreement, he was in the United States covering P.V. Narasimha Rao’s historic visit to that country, which finally set the seal marking the beginning of India’s economic reforms, he covered the demolition of the Babri mosque, he has covered every major Lok Sabha and Bidhan Sabha polls since 1983, across India. Suman had and still has close personal relations some of the leading figures of Indian politics, including, Pranab Mukherjee (who was his father’s student), Jyoti Basu, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Mamata Banerjee and Anil Biswas, the architect of the CPI(M)’s stranglehold over Bengal.
In his story are personal insights into all these events and personalities.
When the CPI(M)-led Left Front was swept to power in 1977, Suman was twenty years old. His upbringing in an educated middle-class family, his brief brush with politics during his student days at the Presidency College and his friendship with people, many of whom would later play important roles in politics, enabled Suman to critically watch the world around him change irrevocably. By the time the Left Front firmly dug its political heels in Bengal through its second thumping victory in the 1983 Assembly polls, Suman had taken his first step into journalism.
As a journalist, Suman’s USP has always been his insistence to be at the spot where news breaks, notwithstanding his official position.
He was among the first handful of journalists to be in Kabul, just before the fall of the Soviet-propped regime, he was the first Indian journalist to arrive in Moscow (that too without a valid passport!) as the Soviet regime withered away, he was in Islamabad to cover the Rajiv Gandhi–Benazir Bhutto agreement, he was in the United States covering P.V. Narasimha Rao’s historic visit to that country, which finally set the seal marking the beginning of India’s economic reforms, he covered the demolition of the Babri mosque, he has covered every major Lok Sabha and Bidhan Sabha polls since 1983, across India. Suman had and still has close personal relations some of the leading figures of Indian politics, including, Pranab Mukherjee (who was his father’s student), Jyoti Basu, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Mamata Banerjee and Anil Biswas, the architect of the CPI(M)’s stranglehold over Bengal.
In his story are personal insights into all these events and personalities.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 20, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 13, 2020
My name is Suman, and this is my story
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" A journalist is like the thermometer - we can't blame the thermometer if we don't like the weather ".
- Anonymous
Whenever a well renowned journalist writes a memoir, it feels like reading the classified documents of the Government without the latter's approval.
My date with history, a memoir is beautifully narrated and written in a lucid way by the author.
Suman Chattopadhyay is a well-known journalist of the state of West Bengal, India. He tells us about his early life in the city of joy, Kolkata, where he completed his graduation from the prestigious Presidency college. About his tumultuous journey as a journalist. And his encounters with some of the renowned personalities of India.
As a journalist he also visited several countries, like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afganistan etc.
Suman, was one of those journalists who were present in Ayodhya at the time of Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. He narrated the whole incident quite frankly without showing any kind of biasness. And that's what make him unique.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. And I also learnt that being a successful journalist is not everyone's cup of tea.
I will end with these lines :-
'Freedom of expression and espousing democratic values are non-negotiable for any civilized existence'.
My Ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
I hope you like this, Thanks for reading, Jai Hind.
For more information You can visit - https://dontbignorant.in/
------------------------------------------------------------------
" A journalist is like the thermometer - we can't blame the thermometer if we don't like the weather ".
- Anonymous
Whenever a well renowned journalist writes a memoir, it feels like reading the classified documents of the Government without the latter's approval.
My date with history, a memoir is beautifully narrated and written in a lucid way by the author.
Suman Chattopadhyay is a well-known journalist of the state of West Bengal, India. He tells us about his early life in the city of joy, Kolkata, where he completed his graduation from the prestigious Presidency college. About his tumultuous journey as a journalist. And his encounters with some of the renowned personalities of India.
As a journalist he also visited several countries, like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afganistan etc.
Suman, was one of those journalists who were present in Ayodhya at the time of Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. He narrated the whole incident quite frankly without showing any kind of biasness. And that's what make him unique.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. And I also learnt that being a successful journalist is not everyone's cup of tea.
I will end with these lines :-
'Freedom of expression and espousing democratic values are non-negotiable for any civilized existence'.
My Ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
I hope you like this, Thanks for reading, Jai Hind.
For more information You can visit - https://dontbignorant.in/
April 8, 2018
For the month of March, my non-fiction read was My Date With History by Suman Chattopadhyay. A memoir of Suman's life as a journalist covering key developments across the subcontinent will be a valuable document on the contemporary history of India.
Through this memoir, one thing was absolutely clear to me that being a political journalist is not easy at all. You need to maintain connection and balance with leaders of various political groups, the editorials that need to be perfectly balanced, the constant coverage of every small thing happening that may become a big thing in next few days. Suman Chattopadhyay takes the reader through nearly three major events that the country went through since 1983. These events were not just confined to Delhi and Calcutta, but also managed to create a tsunami that swamped over till Jaffna and Moscow.
His extensive coverage of militancy and Punjab, Rajiv Gandhi's rise in power and his frequent trips to Bengal to snatch away power from CPI(M), his brief encounter with LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran after he managed to gain entry in Jaffna posing as Bengali Red Cross Official, the blow by blow account of Babri Masjid Demolition that changed politics in India forever made Suman a journalist of iron and wit.
What I loved about the book My Date With History was the inside out details shared by Suman on incidents that made India what it is today. From the growth of home terrorism to Green Revolution in Punjab, Suman's detailing of each case and within explaining the good and bad circumstances is what makes this book one of the best reads of 2018 for me.
However, being a reviewer I need to consider the fact that this book is not everybody's cup of tea. Being of a non-fiction genre, My Date With History will attract only those readers who have a genuine interest in this country's ever-changing political scenario, reforms, and scams that keeps the public on their toes.
All in all, My Date With History is a must read for all.
Through this memoir, one thing was absolutely clear to me that being a political journalist is not easy at all. You need to maintain connection and balance with leaders of various political groups, the editorials that need to be perfectly balanced, the constant coverage of every small thing happening that may become a big thing in next few days. Suman Chattopadhyay takes the reader through nearly three major events that the country went through since 1983. These events were not just confined to Delhi and Calcutta, but also managed to create a tsunami that swamped over till Jaffna and Moscow.
His extensive coverage of militancy and Punjab, Rajiv Gandhi's rise in power and his frequent trips to Bengal to snatch away power from CPI(M), his brief encounter with LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran after he managed to gain entry in Jaffna posing as Bengali Red Cross Official, the blow by blow account of Babri Masjid Demolition that changed politics in India forever made Suman a journalist of iron and wit.
What I loved about the book My Date With History was the inside out details shared by Suman on incidents that made India what it is today. From the growth of home terrorism to Green Revolution in Punjab, Suman's detailing of each case and within explaining the good and bad circumstances is what makes this book one of the best reads of 2018 for me.
However, being a reviewer I need to consider the fact that this book is not everybody's cup of tea. Being of a non-fiction genre, My Date With History will attract only those readers who have a genuine interest in this country's ever-changing political scenario, reforms, and scams that keeps the public on their toes.
All in all, My Date With History is a must read for all.
August 24, 2024
It's a good read for people who are interested in politics and want to know of some events that occur behind the curtains of power. The best part of Suman's writing is his simplicity and rawness with which he portrays any incident. He seems to speak to his readers in the comfort of home. A renowned journalist that he was , he has beautifully explained the events of Jaffna and Ayodhya. He could easily make his readers think 'what happens next'. Overall a must read if you are interested in 'current' affairs of 90s and 2000s.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews