Re: [HumJanenge] Remembering Masterji

Dear PMK1504,

When you say "Dear Sir", one doesn't know which individual you are addressing. But whoever you are addressing, the question remains: who are you and why are you masked? Why do you refer to yourself in ways that are not understandable to all? Why do you want your identity to be disclosed to the select few only? Is this some kind of a secret-society you are forming, like the Rosicrucians or the Ku Klux Klan?

As for whether Masterji liked me, or disliked me, or did not know me at all (or anybody else), is irrelevant. Suppose he disliked someone intensely; does that make him into a bad guy?

Please remember, my friend, this is a forum for RTI activists, not a bunch of blind followers of some religious guru.

Regards,
Krish

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 11:00 AM, PMK1504 <humjanenge.owner@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear sir

We have repeatedly communicated on this group to senior members
of HJ yahoogroup like Vikru and Whistleblower precisely who we are.

You on the other hand only joined HJ well after Masterji left us
and we all know who inducted so many undesirable persons like you into
the group. If I say that Masterji could not stand you, can you deny this ?

PMK1504

On 10/25/10, Krishnaraj Rao <sahasipadyatri@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear PMK 1504,
>
> I agree with Bhaskar and others. Come clean and disclose your identity.
>
> While we all respect and admire Masterji, I think the spirit of inquiry that
> he fostered in all of us will be overcome by sentimentality. So, tell us why
> we all are playing this game of hide-and-seek.
>
> Warm Regards,
> Krish
>
> On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 1:07 PM, Bhaskar Prabhu <
> mahitiadhikarmanch@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear MR. PMK 1504,
>>
>> I would appriciate, diclose who you are  your self and be transperant. As
>> of today who ever were acquented with Masterji nobody has forgoton him.
>>
>> Inservice for RTI.
>>
>> Bhaskar
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 11:13 AM, PMK1504
>> <humjanenge.owner@gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> The present moderators of HJ (yahoo) have forgotten all about Masterji
>>> these past few years. Even his photograph has been removed from
>>> website (replaced with Arvind Kejriwal's).
>>>
>>> We would all do well to recall Masterji and Vinita's Tribute to him.
>>>
>>> Tribute to Prakash Kardaley, editor and Right to Information
>>> campaigner from Pune (by Vinita Deshmukh)
>>>
>>> Journalism for him was not a jungle or words, in which he got
>>> aimlessly lost. Each word that went into `cold print' as he called it
>>> was an explosive part of ammunition, to be struck with military
>>> precision. For him, the editor's cabin was not an ivory tower but a
>>> strategic field post from where he could map out his `war' strategies.
>>> He called his reporters the `infantry brigade' while the features
>>> section was the `artillery department'. Every campaign he undertook
>>> through the news columns was a well-planned `assault' to either maim
>>> the opposition or completely demolish it â his enemy no.1 being
>>> injustice to the common, faceless man. Here too, he did not jump into
>>> an impulsive attack. He used to say, ``when you are gunning one finger
>>> at someone, you should have enough reserves in the three fingers
>>> pointing at you.''
>>>
>>> That's the unbeatable Prakash Kardaley who breathed the fire of
>>> journalism for 40 years, day and night, till the last breath of his
>>> life, last Sunday. He used to say that every centimeter of the news
>>> column is too precious to be frittered away for `irrelevant' issues.
>>> His incessant mantra was: ``Relevance â that's the prime thing you
>>> should know as a journalist. When you broach a story idea, ask
>>> yourself, would the reader have missed it if he had not read it?''
>>> Dare you throw a pompous or a frivolous idea and he would be
>>> ruthlessly rude: ``Are you touching the pulse of the reader or going
>>> on an ego/fancy trip just because you have the power of the  pen in
>>> your hand?'' You felt so useless and worthless at such times!
>>>
>>> In the last seven years, Prakash had adorned another robe â that of
>>> the Right to Information activist, but he believed it was the
>>> extension of relevant journalism. ``Times have changed and now
>>> journalists better know that they have a competitor in the common man.
>>> Even without being a part of the fourth estate or flaunting the
>>> pompous `press' card, the ordinary man from all corners of the country
>>> is accessing information from government offices and shocking you with
>>> the details that was otherwise the prerogative of the so-called
>>> `investigative journalist.' ' He used to be distressed and saddened
>>> that journalists did not use this weapon despite having the platform
>>> of amplifying the details - many of which he said had the potential of
>>> shaking the government or showing it in bad light â through the
>>> powerful mode of the print and electronic media.
>>>
>>> Prakash was so wedded to his work that eating any fancy food or
>>> attending a celebrity party was an insult to his mission. His
>>> well-known weakness was the beer bottle but here too it was not
>>> wayward indulgence. Beer sessions at the charming Grand Hotel in Pune
>>> were extensions of ideas/strategies planned during the day â perhaps
>>> to be crystallised while gulping beer in the late evening. His
>>> favourite words were, ``Arre, I must have beer with him, I want to
>>> discuss that point which cannot be done in the office where phone
>>> calls and visitors get really irritating. ''
>>>
>>> Ever since he passionately took up the RTI crusade though, beer
>>> sessions were replaced by his date with the computer till the wee
>>> hours of the night. He had become an ardent netizen and explored the
>>> cyber space with an enthusiastic but missionary zeal. Even at the age
>>> of 65 years, he would devote his entire day to the new local weekly he
>>> had launched about four months ago and after work, become an ardent
>>> netizen activist. He was the founder of the `Hum Janenge' yahoo
>>> discussion group and today it is one of the most formidable netizen
>>> crusade groups in the country (perhaps in the world). For any news /
>>> views / ciritcism / appreciation about the RTI movement in India, all
>>> you have to do is become its member. Hum Janenge comprises about 600
>>> members and everyday someone or the other is enrolling anew. His short
>>> moment of happiness was when in one single day 58 new members
>>> enrolled, a couple of months back. The enthusiasm being triggered off
>>> by a national RTI convention that he held in Pune and relevant news
>>> reports appearing all across the country, arousing the curiosity of
>>> many. Till the wee hours of the morning, he used to be posting
>>> devastating messages that used to make even RTI information
>>> commissioners squirm in their stomachs. When morning broke, he was
>>> back to being a journalist - always had a story idea for the weekly
>>> and he could not wait to reach office to tell me excitedly of an idea
>>> which I should immediately get cracking on.
>>>
>>> For journalists he was known as the `Master'. For RTI activists, he
>>> was `Masterji.' I used to be amazed - how anyone can be so correct and
>>> commanding. His disposition was serious, in fact, unfriendly and rude.
>>> He could not suffer `fools' â he would have liked the world to think
>>> and act as ``scientifically and logically'' and as fast as he could.
>>> To those who were close to him, he showed no mercy if they wronged. He
>>> shot stinging arrows from which you either learn or run away from. To
>>> those who did good work, even if it was a fresh trainee, he would
>>> present him with `AVSM, PVSM' medal as he would term it. He would call
>>> that `colleague' (he hated to call anyone junior') and then dig out a
>>> paper from his wastepaper basket to offer as the `medal.' When he
>>> laughed, he laughed so heartily that he used to go red on his face,
>>> with tears of joy rolling down his cheeks! You wondered how a man who
>>> used to otherwise snap at people can exude such warmth! I once told
>>> him that he is a honey bee that stings but also produces honey. He
>>> smiled.
>>>

>>> Warmth a quality of his not many know. He was known more as a

>>> hardcore, investigative journalist and one who had pioneered civic
>>> journalism in the country. However, soft stories that touched the
>>> heart of the readers inspired him. He brought these out through the
>>> ``artillery tribe.'' A month ago, local newspapers splashed page one
>>> photographs of tribal girls from Maharashtra being trained as air
>>> hostesses. My foot! He said, ``did you read that? Arggh, these
>>> newspapers have carried it so blandly. Let us give justice. Go and
>>> meet that lady who is training these girls. Doesn't it remind you of
>>> Professor Henry Higgins who taught the flower girl Elisa Doolittle in
>>> `My Fair Lady.' Treat the story that way â it must go as a cover
>>> story.'' The same day he handed me the `My Fair Lady' movie cassette.
>>> ``See it first, otherwise you cannot do justice to this silent social
>>> revolution that is happening in your very own city.'' After I wrote
>>> the story, ``May I have a look at what these girls looked like before
>>> they wore these mini-skirts and stockings? Use both pictures for that
>>> formidable effect!'' The cover story is still receiving rave reviews.
>>> No one would know the man behind it.
>>>
>>> Twenty minutes before he died, he gave me instructions on an Impact
>>> story to be carried. Then he called up 20 minutes later. ``I can see
>>> all black in front of my eyes.'' I said, ``Remove the pillow below
>>> your head and sleep straight.''
>>>
>>> The phone went silent. He had the habit of banging the phone down
>>> tersely. I thought he had agreed to my suggestion - he quite relied on
>>> me for health tips. I didn't know he had stopped talking forever. Next
>>> I saw him sleeping on the stretcher â without a pillow under his head.
>>> I can't believe he has gone forever! I am sure he has loved that

>>> moment he always desired to `instantly' switch off. Without a fuss!
>>>
>