By: Rajbir Deswal

Mr. H.K.Dua, Editor in Chief of The Tribune, though admitted the other day, that the present day journalists are “hacks” who in a hurry to file their stories, tend to overlook the indulgent side of reporting, in their anxiety of being objective. And in the process they overlook the emotional and sensitive side of reporting news, these days.

The occasion was the release of K.L.Zakir’s novel “Akhree Adhyay”—a piece of fiction woven round the problem of AIDS and published by Penguin, in Urdu. Yours truly was also present there. The author was moved and decided to pen a novel when the first case was reported in India, with the victim having been bundled in a stable and rendered ‘untouchable’, to fend for himself, surviving till his ultimate end, on the foodstuff thrown at him by the ‘charitable’ community members.

Another such work of fiction has been published by Rupa & Co, authored by my friend Rajesh Khullar who is a very senior IAS officer in Haryana. His “Viral Match” released during a Cricket match in Bangalore last year, has also received rave reviews. Khullar has received offers too to make his fiction into a movie by certain directors who see the ‘juicy’ side of Khullar’s fiction, which according to him is basically intended to reach the younger generation, by book-reading, being educative in nature.

Coming back to Zakir’s book release function, Mr. H.K. Dua, could not be more serious in addressing concerns of the desired sensitivity to the victims of AIDS. Recognising the eruditeness of Zakir, who once taught him English, Mr. Dua with his tongue firmly in his cheek, could not help being anecdotal in lighter vein to relate an instance.

K.Natwar Singh, was speaking at some function when he admitted that he owed his being ‘what he was’ to St. Stephen’s College. The redoubtable Mani Shankar Aiyyar who too has been a Stephenian was present at the function. He took a gibe at Natwar Singh saying, “For being what one is, he should not blame the College!” The otherwise serious audience, because of the heaviness of the concerns of the dreaded disease, burst with boisterous laughter.
Addressing concern for the ‘exploitative nature of AIDS victims treatment’, the Haryana Governor, Mr. A.R.Kidwai recalled the case of the South African government in fighting the menace of the killer disease. That country had entered into an agreement to import medicine for cure of AIDS of affected people costing ten-thousand dollars annually, for each sufferer. The Consortium of Companies supplying medicine, orchestrated litigation in their Supreme Court, against a deal by that country with India.

By then, India having been affected with AIDS had developed a package of medicine to be administered for ten-times lesser cost, of one-thousand dollars for each case. Mr. Kidwai informed the audience of the outcome of the ‘exploitative stance’ of the Consortium of Companies there, saying, “The Court ruled that when national interest was involved and people were dying, it is justifiable to violate and abrogate”.

The concerns addressed and anecdotes related at the function were in consonance with a critical appreciation of Zakir’s book given by Ms. Rizvi, a senior journalist working for Rashtriya Sahara. She said that the author of the first such work in Urdu digressed from the main theme in some chapters, when he shifted the scene to the sylvan environs of Kashmir, to lighten the otherwise serious spirit of the novel.

Poetic licence can also overshoot, violate and abrogate, if it’s in the interest of a work of art. And the journos too need to be sensitive, like all stake holders in a serious issue, like AIDS.