Midnight telephone calls are like midnight knocks on the door. Often unpleasant — either the Police or an unexpected guest. So also the early morning telephone calls. One such early morning call came to me from K. Shivakumar, Senior Special Correspondent of The New Indian Express at 6.30 am on Thursday, November 23, 2017.

It was to inform me the shocking and sad news about Rajashekar Koti’s death at Bengaluru. He requested not to inform anyone right away and said the body was on its way, would reach by 7.30 am. I was there at his house with my son and Manager by 7.15 am.

Apparently the news was kept under wraps. Koti’s son Ravi Koti was at the open-gate on phone. “We have not informed mother,” he said and narrated the events leading to his father’s passing away. We then moved to the nearby Andolana Kannada newspaper office and waited. When Shivakumar came, he said the body would reach an hour late. We returned home and went there again immediately when the body had arrived. A few of his friends and staff of Andolana were there. Body was kept inside the house for private mourning by his family. I was allowed in. His wife was in a state of silent stupor with his two daughters, who were inconsolable.

I was told, true to his ideological belief he did not want any ritual to be observed, including burial. In deference to his wishes, after the funeral, he was cremated at Harishchandra Ghat, foot of Chamundi Hill.

What manner of a man was Rajashekar Koti?

Well, it is rather difficult to define his personality in few words. It is said, editors such as they are fall into three broad categories. One, as Crusaders. Two, as Stars. Three, as Philosophers. In my humble opinion, Rajashekar Koti definitely belongs to the category of a Crusader to the exclusion of other two categories. Of course, he has carved a niche for himself in the hearts and minds of local Kannada newspaper readers and of the oppressed classes of people through his own newspaper Andolana and his occasional writings in it.

I know Rajashekar Koti since 1980 when I started my own morning District newspaper Mysooru Mithra. By then he was already into Andolana in its various periodicity, including as a weekly. He was already known as an ideologically committed Socialist with friends and contacts in the old Mysore district which included the present Chamarajanagar district as well.

It was my friend, advocate and a Socialist V.H. Gowda who suggested the name of Koti for getting the reporters and agents in the district for Mysooru Mithra. So it was, Koti who was struggling with his own newspaper printed on a Treadle machine, was requested by me to help. To my utter surprise, he was too willing and readily agreed. I drafted the service of a friend’s jeep and we set out on our mission. Rest is now history for Mysooru Mithra. And I guess, God helps  those who help others. Andolana too made history.

In the meanwhile, Andolana and Koti were still struggling but our mutual acquaintance  as journalist-owners continued. I am aware of his days of denials, deprivation and gruelling difficulties in bringing out the newspaper Andolana. Hearing what his friends like littérateur Devanur Mahadeva, Prof. A. Ramalingam and Janata Party MLA Vedantha Hemmige were speaking about Koti’s ordeal by fire in those early days and what he himself said in some of his speeches, it was a miracle that he could pull through those dismal, dark days and see the shining light at the end of the tunnel sooner than later.

I was told his wife Nirmala Koti was a great support and strength for Koti in dealing with those situations. A graceful lady and a generous host, she had also donned the mantle of a management expert for a while with grit and imagination. I am reminded of poet K. S. Narasimhaswamy of Mysooru Mallige fame where, in one poem, he speaks of the advantages of having a virtuous, understanding and an able wife. Nirmala Koti, apparently, has been all these to Rajashekar Koti as his wife.

And finally, the mission was accomplished — from the turbulent sea the ship of Andolana is now sailing safely in the deep, peaceful high sea.

What I admire in Koti is that unlike many people whose ideology and political orientation change with accumulation of wealth and success in career, Rajashekar Koti did not change. His social and political ideology as a Socialist continued without compromise till his last breath. Committed to the ideology of Socialism of non-conforming to the caste or religious rituals and beliefs, he ensured these values are not diluted even in his death as we have seen. An honest, committed follower of Socialist ideology, he did not compromise on its practice and commitment.

Andolana became the voice of the Dalits and the oppressed class not only in late 1970s and early 1980s, when there was no newspaper in Mysuru to give them a voice, but also in the later years till the present. That is no mean courage for a newspaper which survives only on the strength of its circulation which in turn brings more advertisement revenue. Fortunately, Koti succeeded. Thanks to his well-wishers in politics and the Socialist Government (Janata) in power.

I have had a number of occasions to share his company on stage and socially. A soft-spoken person and a man of few words, he seemed adamant in his opinions. Koti showed serious concern about the condition of the poor and the helpless so much so he would translate his sympathy and concern into help in real terms — he would reach out to his pocket or cheque book and give money to the needy or make needed arrangements for the one in trouble or grief.

It is said that the glory of tomorrow is rooted in the drudgery of today. Koti is a good example of a person who by sheer drudgery of his yesterdays saw the glory of today. It is indeed commendable that neither lack of higher education nor his poor background prevented him from finding his metier. Certainly, one cannot always be a hero, but one can always be a human being, said Goethe. Rajashekar Koti was indeed a hero in his own right and remained a human being till the end.

Let me put my pen down with the following lines from poet Edward Parker which seem to describe Rajashekar Koti’s life:

 Life’s race well run,

Life’s work well done,

Life’s victory won,

Now cometh rest.

RIP Rajashekar Koti.  

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