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Born in 1920, in a large middle class family in Udupi, a small village then, with approximately less than 6,000 inhabitants, Madhav Vittaldas Kamath a.k.a. M V Kamath today is no small man. He is perhaps among those few living legends to have shaken hands, or have a face to face dialogue, with Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Martin Luther King, J R D Tata, Richard Nixon, V K Krishna Menon, Zulfikar Ali Butto, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, Homi Babha, R K Narayan and Morarji Desai including many others.
From people who made history, to the people who wrote it, he has seen them all. As a man with eye for people and nose for news, his writing has found him a huge following across India and world over. From writing on simple joys of life to complex geopolitical system, it is simply hard to find a contemporary to MVK and his autobiography ‘M V Kamath: A Journalist at Large’ is yet another testimony, a true masterpiece.
The book, for a pleasant reading has been divided into three sections namely: ‘Encounters with famous personalities’, ‘Opening the crevices of the heart’ and ‘From the Journalist’ Diary’. And each chapter is no less than a time machine; where MVK with his stewardship recalls the time to his readers make them feel the way he felt. And when he does that, he does not like an icon but as a humble human, leaving aside the ego, something which he himself in person rarely possesses.
With a heart for all, the book is filled amazing stories like that of then Vice President of United states Nixon coming to his help, being rewarded by JRD, having a mark of appreciation from V K Krishna Menon, calling the mighty Indira Gandhi for a potluck dinner at his home in US, Getting coffee for teetotaler R K Narayan amidst cocktail party and behind each of the story he gives a quintessential message to the reader making reading a great pleasure.
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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