Rolling back the news and the nostalgia

Last week as I bid goodbye to my dear aunt who had passed on a flood of emotions raced through my mind I rolled back the years to recount the numerous ways in which she had influenced my life Immense gratitude was one of the feelings that was right up there in the long listIf I am a journalist and an author today a large part of the curiosity that is required for both vocations was instilled early on thanks to her Back in the day when newspapers were the biggest source for news and current affairs it was the stack of newspapers in her drawing room that grabbed my attention to this world Sure we would subscribe to the usual broadsheet at home but hers was this mini pile of all kinds of newspapers and news magazines that piqued the curiosity of a young impressionable mindSince her home was close to where I attended school lunch breaks were sometimes spent there and if I had five minutes to spare before I needed to rush back in time for the recess bell Irsquod always sneak a quick glance at the headlines on page one and the sports section Itrsquos where I discovered midday for the first time I had only begun to understand and appreciate the importance of reading the news and staying abreast of daily happenings And what a high that wasCome Sundays after hearing morning mass the family would usually head to her place for a grand breakfast Being the matriarch of the family everyone was drawn there like a sanctuary I remember stuffing my face with chicken mince patties and egg rolls as we kids would be glued to Disney cartoons or US sitcoms like Different Strokes on the prized lsquocolourrsquo Solidaire TV It was during those fun mornings with my older cousins that I first read the Sunday middayBack in the late 1980s and early 90s that edition was my window to longform writing It also made me discover Bombay mdash the big rich and famous who lived in it the melting pot of ideas and people and oh yes the breezy celebrity interviews where they would open their hearts and homes to the reader It was a dossier of the city that I was slowly beginning to warm up to I began to gauge what living in a metropolis meant well beyond my quaint slowpaced then untouched suburban confinesShe also subscribed to The Illustrated Weekly of India that held me in good stead before it wound up That publication made me curious about Delhi and its politics to some extent well at least it made sense to a teenager like me The invaluable encounters and exchanges shaped my curiosity about consuming news being in the know about current affairs and acing an oftused term in those days mdash lsquogeneral knowledgersquo Those newspaperaddicted days were my formative years in so many ways mdash and my aunt unknowingly was one of the key facilitators Years later when I became a fulltime journalist she would beam with pride each time I would meet her in the company of her friends ldquoShersquos a journalist the first in our familyrdquo shersquod announce to themOver the years we continued to exchange notes about national and world affairs from political assassinations to the shaky Congress cabinet She analysed the entire weekrsquos news rather crisply such that if I caught up with her on the following Sunday I was assured of a superb summary including what I had missed Her ticking sharp brain was like a sponge thirsty for information well into her 80s her trademark touch of humour made it even more special A call or meeting with her meant I had to keep aside at least 45 minutes that were mostly devoted to current affairs In fact some of us gave her a deserving moniker mdash The World This Week mdash after the popular NDTV show in the Doordarshan daysUp until a few months back when we had a longish chat on the phone it was mostly about the vaccine shortage and my work she voiced her concern about the future of print post the pandemic She was a trueblue custodian of the newspaper and believed in sharing this love with all who showed interestAnd now with her in heaven I am pretty sure not a single day will go by where the Great One or everyone else up there will be deprived of the ldquolatest newsrdquoRIP Aunty Ritamiddayrsquos Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the cityrsquos sights sounds smells and stoneswherever the ink and the inclination takes her She tweets bombayanaSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom