“How does one kill a cockroach?” Jyotirmaya Sharma asked. This was during one of the morning meetings we used to have with him as Resident Editor of The Times of India, Hyderabad. This meeting with heads of departments would not be just about work. Philosophy would always take centre-stage. So, how does one kill a cockroach? Everyone sitting in his chamber for the meeting knew how they killed a cockroach. Jyotirmaya Sharma himself knew how people killed a cockroach. If he had a question, he also had an answer. “If a cockroach has to be killed, just use the little amount of force one would need to,” he said. Beyond that ‘little amount of force’ would mean ‘excessive violence’, is what I understand. That is because some stamp on it. Some stomp on it. Some crush it to death as if with vengeance. More about Jyotirmaya Sharma’s philosophy. He called me aside one day. “Just stand by him. Be his comfort,” he advised me. It was supposed to be the colleague’s last day in office. Jyoti...
Journalist