They don't make leaders like him anymore, says former Savvy editor Usha Radhakrishnan, paying tribute to publishing pioneer Nari Hira who passed into the ages on Friday. August 23, 2024.
Mr Hira, as we called him at Magna Publishing, gave me my first break as an editor way back in 1996.
He trusted me with one of his precious magazines, SAVVY, when I was a young journalist with barely seven years of experience behind me and, more importantly, when I had just become a mother for the first time.
I still vividly remember the morning he called me to his office on the eighth floor of Magna House.
"Will you be able to shoulder this responsibility?" he asked.
"I will try my best," I said, excited and nervous at the same time.
To which he said, "Trying will not be good enough. Tell me you will be able to, and I know you will."
And from that day, he held my hands and helped me navigate the ups and downs that come with being an editor.
That was Mr Hira. He trusted young journalists with critical roles and nurtured them to bring out the best in them.
Mr Hira had the unique ability to retain his employees. Those who worked for him did not ever wish to move on. He was the most kind, caring, and generous boss I have known.
I had to travel from Mulund in the suburbs of Mumbai to Prabhadevi in south central Mumbai, where the Magna House office is located.
One evening, as I was headed home after work, I had a nasty experience on the Dadar overbridge.
When Mr Hira heard of what I had gone through, he gave me a pepper spray can and told me that I must always keep it handy.
He also gave me a car with an unlimited petrol budget to make my travel easier and more comfortable.
Everything Mr Hira did was extraordinary.
As a publisher, Mr Hira did not ever compromise on editorial integrity.
He did not let business or advertising interests come in the way of editorial freedom. Nor did he balk at the suggestion of his magazines being dragged to court for something that had been published.
As his journalists, we were never told to mute our voices as long as we spoke the truth and stuck to facts.
"Criticism is good. It means people read what you write and take you seriously," he told me once.
"And the more the noise the more copies of our magazines will sell," he added with a laugh.
I could go on and on describing Mr Hira as a human being and as a boss, and yet would have not said enough.
They do not make leaders like him anymore. Mr Hira was one of a kind. The industry has indeed lost a legend.
Goodbye, Mr Hira. You will live on in our hearts forever.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
