Few midnight hours in Hindustan

25-26th january 2009

Few midnight hours in Hindustan

Well! I am not a NRI or a non-Hindustani to describe you the moment of a midnight change over flight in any part of Hindustan but am describing you the scene of a premiere daily I could see on the insistence of a young editorial staff, , of Hindustan, at Bhagalpur on the midnight of 25th-26th January and I saw the newspaper with my statement few hours earlier than any morning I could have seen.
The press prints around 2 lakh copies per night( than day I will like to say)..and that too in few hours. The speed is 10 copy per second and press can’t use maximum speed as paper quality is needed better than it is using for that.
Even with this it cost Rs.16(and is charged Rs.4 with a reader due to some advertisement support)- while with some premier English dailies Rs. 32 they charge Rs.2 because Hindi papers do not get MNC’s advertisement support. The support by leaders and state government gags them- hence Koshi flood victims under great chill do not make news and Vikas Yatras of Bihar Government in election time- in fact Election commission’s work should start from day 1 of oath ceremony not after promulgation of election dates.
It was a cool night and I could not resist to visit the press when was invited. The first thing medically I noticed that the workers printing papers need masks otherwise aerosole of four primary colors- syan(I knew there first time), red, green, magenta(or some other I do not remember) will gradually accumulate in the lungs of such workers.
Now the press is mechanized and modernized day by day and I professed after 50 years it may not be needed as on line individual subscription and alerts may be more familiar with the higher computer density.
Talking with editorial staff was good- it was a very busy hour and some of them knew me for different causes- from residence to Maithili movement to be a doctor and so..
I talked with them on three or four issues in low voice not to disturb many but surely three or four ears were there concentrated to me-
Newspapers should prioritize mews as per national/reginal importance, even a line of Delhi Dharna read in Hindustan helped our village workers in interior Mithila, I thanked the paper.
In fact the response to small incident in aany corner of state or nation is not in vopgue these days and that is one lacuna of the regionwise printing(even my news could not go for Saharsa as it was peinted earlier that evening but Santhal Paragan and Purnea apart from Bhagalpur coud get news of different dimension despite 26th jan. greetings and I thanked Hindustan for propagating XIX Interanational Maithili conference at Bhaga;pur March 22-23,2008.
Then I came to Hindi words- SUBA for Prant /Rajya is one to which I objected and so many Urdu and English words. I suggested to accept Ramka instead pf Ram Ka to save space if that was priority..and in Maithili it is so like that of Sanskrit.

I did not talk for job/ wages of journalists though I feel with recession looming many are asked to go and one lady journalist had filed a case at Delhi. However, I did not find any lady and I was said that in night shift they are not given work.
I told my young friend who was’ humble and young’ that once in amid night I had visited IISc, Bangalore and had written an article’Tata Institute(as that is popularly called there) the prodigal son of Tata.- Tata had one third of his property donated to to IISc and two thirds to his daughters.
I know Hindustan had originated from Pradeep printed at Searchlight Press which was burnt in 1974 during Student agitation.
For l;ack of time at the moment I am closing it with my wishes,(from a columnist, editor of two periodicals and a lover of journalism.”Let Hindusatan keeps that glory of ‘second Independence movement.’