A generous mentor to many journalists

It is not easy to describe some individuals. ML Kotru, former Editor of The Statesman, Delhi, and mentor to a generation of journalists including this writer, was one such person. He passed away at his home in Gurgaon on Thursday night. He would have turned 91 next November, but may actually have been three years older, as he would often say with a chuckle.

- RAVINDRA KUMAR

As a reporter, a diplomatic correspondent, and later as News Editor and Editor at Delhi, Kotru Sahib, as he was known, had a presence one could not miss. Often mistaken for a Russian because of a ruddy complexion that turned ruddier after he had indulged at one or other of his favourite watering holes — the Press Club, the Chelmsford Club or the India International Centre

~ Kotru Sahib’s journalism defied common sense to flourish when he was under the influence. As he once said, a tipple helped him shed his inhibitions while writing.

And his writing was always precise and methodical, his style succinct and piercing, and his turn of phrase enchanting. Recognition of his skills as a reporter and a writer came early. A series of write-ups entitled “The Other Side” that chronicled the lives of the less advantaged among Delhi’s dwellers — such as drain-cleaners — earned him a prestigious international award from the Watumull Foundation, Hawaii.