Nanasaheb Parulekar
A visionary journalist who gave a modern, commercial face to the newspapers while keeping intact its social backbone
Birth: 1898
Balshastri Jambhekar founded the first newspaper Darpan in Maharashtra and thereafter many intellectuals and journalists refined this tradition. Many social reformers and thinkers used this media to create a spirit of unity against the British Raj during the pre-independence era. Unfortunately, this tradition flowed in only one direction and the newspapers became opinion-letters for only a limited section of the society. The middle class and the commoners felt alienated from the newspapers due to its heavy language and intellectual subjects.
The existence of these opinion-letters was all but over in the third decade of the twentieth century during the decline of the British Empire, but for the birth of a visionary editor. He realized that newspapers would play an important part in the coming future and changed the entire concept of the newspapers. His name: Narayan Bhikaji also known as Nanasaheb Parulekar.
After Nanasaheb established the daily newspaper Sakal on 1st January 1932, newspapers were never the same again. Sakal is more than seventy-five years old today. Barring a few early years of struggle, today it is flourishing like never before. The credit of course goes to Nanaseheb’s vision and creativity.
Nanasaheb was one of the rare breeds with the distinction of being ‘foreign returned’ during the British era. He came back to India after completing his education in the USA in 1929. He closely observed the journalistic practices of the USA for ten years as a reporter for French, German and American newspapers. His ideas of modern journalism, reader-friendly daily, his target audience and the overall structure of the newspaper were shaped during this period.
When he returned to India, he was keen on entering the struggle for independence but there were some special reasons for him to turn to journalism. The first reason was that he wanted to make use of his education and journalistic background in creating social awareness. The newspaper was a powerful media to make this happen. The second reason was that the life and work of Lokmanya Tilak was Nanasaheb’s ideal. He was influenced by the priority given by Tilak to serving one’s country and his work of creating public awareness through his newspaper Kesari. Being educated in the Anaath Vidyarthi Gruha (Orphan students’ school), Nanasaheb himself had been shaped by the values of self-dependence and social service. Hence he was more of a journalist than a satyagrahi. Thus, he chose journalism as his career.
The time when Nanasaheb returned to India was of political instability and economic slowdown. The environment was not at all conducive for a new business venture. Yet, Nanasaheb started preparations for the same disregarding all conditions. He had more experience in writing in English than in Marathi. Besides, at the time English newspapers were more in demand than Marathi newspapers. They even had the backing of the State. On the contrary, Marathi newspapers were somehow managing to keep afloat. Their condition was not so good. So, when Nanasaheb declared his intention of starting a Marathi daily, many prominent personalities including Tatyasaheb Kelkar tried to discourage him. But Nanasaheb had made up his mind. He had realized the importance of having a newspaper in the local language during his years abroad. Besides, he knew that to reach the masses, he needed to communicate in their language.
In Nanasaheb’s mind, the purpose of starting a daily was very different. He wanted to make the newspaper very open. He wanted to include all sections of the society. He did not want his newspaper to be the discussion board of some lofty ideals in heavy language, but to be more open to report and interpret the small happenings around the city. Only then would it get readership from the common man and this would ensure its sustainability in the coming future.
Prior to starting the newspaper, he closely studied other newspapers prevalent at that time. He tried to find out why they had such poor readership. He realized that the readers did not get detailed news reports and moreover these reports were also not current. He decided to change the form of his newspaper and started thinking how he could give a complete reader-friendly newspaper in Marathi.
Nanasaheb had two intentions behind starting a Marathi newspaper. The most important reason was that he wanted to prove that a Marathi daily could be successful. This intention complemented his desire to reach the most downtrodden of the masses. He decided to skip the regular readers and concentrated on creating a new readership. For this, he kept the composition of the newspaper news-friendly. He knew the importance a news item carried in a daily newspaper. So, he disassociated himself from these opinion-letters. He concentrated on giving fresh news items, avoiding reporting on only political events and instead spanning the spectrum of educational, social and cultural events, in addition to news reports of different programs in the city, court and police cases. He placed correspondents in the rural areas for information from those parts of the State. Realizing that Mumbai was a main center for news reports and happenings, he placed special correspondents in Mumbai. When changing the form of the newspaper, he also changed its look, structure and language. He used easy, flowing everyday language. He started giving photographs along with the news items. In order to incorporate all the happenings in the day, he was the first to start the system of working in shifts for his newspaper. In short, Nanasaheb defined all the principles and practices used in print journalism today way back in the 1930s. In this way, today’s journalism is standing on the foundations laid down by Nanasaheb.
With its progress, Sakal tried to touch all aspects of life like elections in foreign countries, the Olympics, horse races, share market, performing arts, music, keertan performances, play-readings, literature prizes etc. Due to this, Sakal soon became a friend of all from the masses to the intellectual class.
When Nanasaheb decided to launch this newspaper, he had no financial backing of any sort. He did not ascribe to any political party, nor did he have any affiliation to any common census, so there were no funds from these quarters. A few well wishers did contribute but a bulk of the finances came from a large loan that he took out. And so, on the 1st of January 1932, he launched the first issue of Sakal. The first few years were of immense struggle. The economic meltdown forced him to practice financial frugality. No sooner did the financial situation improve, than the editorial and management problems surfaced. But, Nanasaheb faced all of this head on. Working with honesty and great skill, he paved the way for success for Sakal and reinvested the profits from the business to expand it.
Within a year of starting Sakal, he launched a weekly called Saptahik Sakal, and a few days later; he launched a new, lowly priced daily called Tej. Once the business in Pune was established, Nanasaheb turned his attention to starting a new daily from Mumbai. On 21st March 1936, the first issue of Swarajya was launched from Mumbai. He also wanted to launch an English daily from Mumbai, but this decision backfired. His friends who had invested in these publications took away their funds leaving Nanasaheb heavily indebted. His family also bore the brunt of this indebtedness. As a result, the daily Swarajya became a weekly and with time it was shifted from Mumbai. Tej was discontinued and Sakal had to pay off the debts. Nanasaheb had to face around thirty- forty court cases and also go through a lot of mental stress. The orthodox, traditionalists had never liked Nanasaheb’s open policies and they often taunted him. But, now, due to his financial breakdown, Nanasaheb also had to face their wrath.
With no backing whatsoever, Nanasaheb entered the field of print journalism and made it a success. He believed that failure was a stepping-stone to learn from experience and started his business afresh. That’s why his name is taken along with other successful editors.
The one thing that made Nanasaheb a success in this field was his business sense. He used journalism as a means of social service, yet kept the venture on a sound business footing. And yet, at the same time, he did not let it become too commercialized. A simple farmer too could relate to the newspaper as it contained news that he could relate to his surroundings. Thus he made the newspaper all encompassing. He was the owner, manager and editor yet he managed to keep the spirit of a news editor alive in his work. He used to read each and every news item that was to be published and he developed the journalistic knowledge of his reporters. During Nanasaheb’s era, the office of Sakal was not only a newspaper office, but also an institution that imparted knowledge in the field of publication. Nanasaheb’s hobby was to take newly trained journalists under his wing and develop their craft.
Nanasaheb was not only a successful editor, but also a revolutionary journalist who made changes according to the times, avoided lofty ideals and unnecessary clutter, while making the newspaper a medium of expression in sync with the changing times.
Death: 1973
A visionary journalist who gave a modern, commercial face to the newspapers while keeping intact its social backbone
Birth: 1898
Balshastri Jambhekar founded the first newspaper Darpan in Maharashtra and thereafter many intellectuals and journalists refined this tradition. Many social reformers and thinkers used this media to create a spirit of unity against the British Raj during the pre-independence era. Unfortunately, this tradition flowed in only one direction and the newspapers became opinion-letters for only a limited section of the society. The middle class and the commoners felt alienated from the newspapers due to its heavy language and intellectual subjects.
The existence of these opinion-letters was all but over in the third decade of the twentieth century during the decline of the British Empire, but for the birth of a visionary editor. He realized that newspapers would play an important part in the coming future and changed the entire concept of the newspapers. His name: Narayan Bhikaji also known as Nanasaheb Parulekar.
After Nanasaheb established the daily newspaper Sakal on 1st January 1932, newspapers were never the same again. Sakal is more than seventy-five years old today. Barring a few early years of struggle, today it is flourishing like never before. The credit of course goes to Nanaseheb’s vision and creativity.
Nanasaheb was one of the rare breeds with the distinction of being ‘foreign returned’ during the British era. He came back to India after completing his education in the USA in 1929. He closely observed the journalistic practices of the USA for ten years as a reporter for French, German and American newspapers. His ideas of modern journalism, reader-friendly daily, his target audience and the overall structure of the newspaper were shaped during this period.
When he returned to India, he was keen on entering the struggle for independence but there were some special reasons for him to turn to journalism. The first reason was that he wanted to make use of his education and journalistic background in creating social awareness. The newspaper was a powerful media to make this happen. The second reason was that the life and work of Lokmanya Tilak was Nanasaheb’s ideal. He was influenced by the priority given by Tilak to serving one’s country and his work of creating public awareness through his newspaper Kesari. Being educated in the Anaath Vidyarthi Gruha (Orphan students’ school), Nanasaheb himself had been shaped by the values of self-dependence and social service. Hence he was more of a journalist than a satyagrahi. Thus, he chose journalism as his career.
The time when Nanasaheb returned to India was of political instability and economic slowdown. The environment was not at all conducive for a new business venture. Yet, Nanasaheb started preparations for the same disregarding all conditions. He had more experience in writing in English than in Marathi. Besides, at the time English newspapers were more in demand than Marathi newspapers. They even had the backing of the State. On the contrary, Marathi newspapers were somehow managing to keep afloat. Their condition was not so good. So, when Nanasaheb declared his intention of starting a Marathi daily, many prominent personalities including Tatyasaheb Kelkar tried to discourage him. But Nanasaheb had made up his mind. He had realized the importance of having a newspaper in the local language during his years abroad. Besides, he knew that to reach the masses, he needed to communicate in their language.
In Nanasaheb’s mind, the purpose of starting a daily was very different. He wanted to make the newspaper very open. He wanted to include all sections of the society. He did not want his newspaper to be the discussion board of some lofty ideals in heavy language, but to be more open to report and interpret the small happenings around the city. Only then would it get readership from the common man and this would ensure its sustainability in the coming future.
Prior to starting the newspaper, he closely studied other newspapers prevalent at that time. He tried to find out why they had such poor readership. He realized that the readers did not get detailed news reports and moreover these reports were also not current. He decided to change the form of his newspaper and started thinking how he could give a complete reader-friendly newspaper in Marathi.
Nanasaheb had two intentions behind starting a Marathi newspaper. The most important reason was that he wanted to prove that a Marathi daily could be successful. This intention complemented his desire to reach the most downtrodden of the masses. He decided to skip the regular readers and concentrated on creating a new readership. For this, he kept the composition of the newspaper news-friendly. He knew the importance a news item carried in a daily newspaper. So, he disassociated himself from these opinion-letters. He concentrated on giving fresh news items, avoiding reporting on only political events and instead spanning the spectrum of educational, social and cultural events, in addition to news reports of different programs in the city, court and police cases. He placed correspondents in the rural areas for information from those parts of the State. Realizing that Mumbai was a main center for news reports and happenings, he placed special correspondents in Mumbai. When changing the form of the newspaper, he also changed its look, structure and language. He used easy, flowing everyday language. He started giving photographs along with the news items. In order to incorporate all the happenings in the day, he was the first to start the system of working in shifts for his newspaper. In short, Nanasaheb defined all the principles and practices used in print journalism today way back in the 1930s. In this way, today’s journalism is standing on the foundations laid down by Nanasaheb.
With its progress, Sakal tried to touch all aspects of life like elections in foreign countries, the Olympics, horse races, share market, performing arts, music, keertan performances, play-readings, literature prizes etc. Due to this, Sakal soon became a friend of all from the masses to the intellectual class.
When Nanasaheb decided to launch this newspaper, he had no financial backing of any sort. He did not ascribe to any political party, nor did he have any affiliation to any common census, so there were no funds from these quarters. A few well wishers did contribute but a bulk of the finances came from a large loan that he took out. And so, on the 1st of January 1932, he launched the first issue of Sakal. The first few years were of immense struggle. The economic meltdown forced him to practice financial frugality. No sooner did the financial situation improve, than the editorial and management problems surfaced. But, Nanasaheb faced all of this head on. Working with honesty and great skill, he paved the way for success for Sakal and reinvested the profits from the business to expand it.
Within a year of starting Sakal, he launched a weekly called Saptahik Sakal, and a few days later; he launched a new, lowly priced daily called Tej. Once the business in Pune was established, Nanasaheb turned his attention to starting a new daily from Mumbai. On 21st March 1936, the first issue of Swarajya was launched from Mumbai. He also wanted to launch an English daily from Mumbai, but this decision backfired. His friends who had invested in these publications took away their funds leaving Nanasaheb heavily indebted. His family also bore the brunt of this indebtedness. As a result, the daily Swarajya became a weekly and with time it was shifted from Mumbai. Tej was discontinued and Sakal had to pay off the debts. Nanasaheb had to face around thirty- forty court cases and also go through a lot of mental stress. The orthodox, traditionalists had never liked Nanasaheb’s open policies and they often taunted him. But, now, due to his financial breakdown, Nanasaheb also had to face their wrath.
With no backing whatsoever, Nanasaheb entered the field of print journalism and made it a success. He believed that failure was a stepping-stone to learn from experience and started his business afresh. That’s why his name is taken along with other successful editors.
The one thing that made Nanasaheb a success in this field was his business sense. He used journalism as a means of social service, yet kept the venture on a sound business footing. And yet, at the same time, he did not let it become too commercialized. A simple farmer too could relate to the newspaper as it contained news that he could relate to his surroundings. Thus he made the newspaper all encompassing. He was the owner, manager and editor yet he managed to keep the spirit of a news editor alive in his work. He used to read each and every news item that was to be published and he developed the journalistic knowledge of his reporters. During Nanasaheb’s era, the office of Sakal was not only a newspaper office, but also an institution that imparted knowledge in the field of publication. Nanasaheb’s hobby was to take newly trained journalists under his wing and develop their craft.
Nanasaheb was not only a successful editor, but also a revolutionary journalist who made changes according to the times, avoided lofty ideals and unnecessary clutter, while making the newspaper a medium of expression in sync with the changing times.
Death: 1973
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