Producer, director, anchor, political commentator ... there are few areas of the Indian visual media where Vinod Dua has not left his indelible touch. Achieving near cult status
for his crackling election analyses of the world's largest democracy, Dua tells Shalaka Paradkar why he is unhappy with modern voting machines.
In many ways, Vinod Dua still reminds one of a time when television was black and white and purer in its innocence. In an age of pretty TV anchors, with perfectly blow-dried hair and brain-dead analysis, Dua delights in being an anachronism.
His demeanour, wardrobe and hairstyle included, has remained practically unchanged since the '70s when he started his broadcasting career with the state-owned Indian television.
He was easygoing yet erudite and his crackling election analyses and flawless Hindi made him an icon of the Indian electronic media.
He didn't have an e-mail address in 1974, and doesn't have one even today. In fact, he carries a cellphone much against his will. From the looks of it, Dua's only concession to the new millennium is a sparkling diamond stud in his ear.
He has been closely associated with Dr Prannoy Roy, the founder of private Indian television company NDTV, since 1984 and has been doing special election related programmes for the channels ever since.
A producer, director, anchor and political commentator since 1974, and a specialist in election analysis, the Dua-Roy team has covered every election since 1984 in the world's largest democracy.
As an independent producer and director, he has made numerous documentary films and programmes for various media houses. He was the first electronic media journalist to win the esteemed BD Goenka Award for excellence in journalism in 1995.
In Dubai rcently for the launch of NDTV Arabia, Dua says he is as comfortable in the gilded cavernous lobby of The Raffles Hotel as he is tucking into a hot and greasy meal with a taxi driver at a pavement eatery.
He charms the hotel steward at the Raffles with his earthy Punjabi; in return, the steward finds us a cosy corner where we can conduct the interview undisturbed.
It is the same kind of instant rapport he established with pan-Indian audiences on his Sunday morning show, Aap ke Liye. He explains it with a line of poetry from one of his favourite poets Pablo Neruda, When I lived among the roots, they pleased me more than the flowers did …
I
I still don't know if I am a journalist.
I am a communicator, yes, who has done thousands of hours of broadcasting pertaining to media analysis, travelogues, food shows, youth programmes. My primary identity is that of a citizen of India, someone who is alive and enjoys the good things of life, including fresh air and water.
Some of the things that give me joy are red meat cooked in desi ghee (clarified butter), little children and music.
I am a people's person. I love talking to people. I love common people, eating their food ... I do belong in this seven-star culture as well, because I am rather well-off.
I may spend my morning with my friend Madan Mohan Vohra, who drives an autorickshaw in Delhi, and my evenings with Prannoy Roy in the NDTV office. I am at peace with both these ends of the spectrum. This is what makes me feel humble about life and existence. My connect with the outside of this luxurious hotel is as complete as with the inside.
In moments of negativity, I think myself out of it. Music and a long drive cure me of my blues.
I love authentic Indian cuisine. I do not enjoy fast food and Western cuisines. Hence my show Zaika India ka, which has become a popular show now. We take viewers through all the local delicacies, the sights, and music of small-town India.
Me
Me and growing up in Delhi.
I was born in Delhi on March 11, 1954. My parents came from Dera Ismail Khan, now in Pakistan - near the border with Afghanistan. They came after Partition to Delhi.
My upbringing was in a typical refugee colony, where
I studied in a government school till grade 6. My father, a bank employee, rapidly rose through the ranks. My elder brother and sister also found good jobs. And I was the one to benefit from the affluence.
So I completed my schooling in a private school, and later stayed in a hostel while I was in college. My upbringing in a refugee colony and my subsequent education gave me an eclectic spectrum of exposure. The liberal Delhi University education helped me think the way I do.
My father was the strongest influence on me. From him I learned courage, large-heartedness, and not to accept a penny that has not been earned. My family had braved the partition of India and arrived penniless in Delhi. Despite their poverty, they never resorted to dishonest means to make money.
My father came from the old school. I would blame a film called Mughal-e-Azam for a generation of Indian fathers who tried to be strict with their sons. (Mughal-e-Azam was an epic Bollywood production that depicted the clash between the Mughal patriarch Akbar and his son, Salim.)
When my father tried to be strict with me, I moved to a hostel. His influence on me can be summed up thus: self- reliance, good intentions, and a bright soul. I was in the media when (hosts) were paid just Rs50 per episode. (But) by sticking with it and working hard, media has brought me prosperity.
I was always a joyous child. I attended Delhi University's Hansraj College, where I was this tough guy and a member of a gang who got into scraps and university politics.
In my second year of college, I fell in love. Things did not go so well. We decided to meet to talk it out.
The meeting was on the same morning as my final examination in English. I chose to meet her instead of writing the exam. We broke up, and I knew I would be repeating the year since I had not given the exam.
As expected, when the results came, I had failed. I went and saw a Hindi film, Bindiya aur Bandook (Bindiya and the Gun). The next year, I moved to the hostel, fell sick and missed another year. Consequently it took me five years to complete my BA and two years for my MA degree.
Me and television
My career in broadcasting started as an extension of my debating (prowess) in college. As a student, I used to do the youth programmes for the state-owned Delhi television.
We worked out of a small office in the All India Radio building. Some of Indian television's best broadcasting talents, in fact, started their careers with these youth programmes - Ramu Damodaran, Navtej Sarna, Komal GB Singh, Deepak Vohra ...
After I finished my MA, television continued as a complement to my work in street theatre. It became a full- fledged profession in 1985, when I did my first election analysis with Prannoy Roy. Since then I have been associated with Prannoy and his wife Radhika.
I cut my teeth in journalism with (noted journalist and author) M.J. Akbar.
My association with the Roys has brought me (fame) and credibility. While I kept doing my own productions, (Prannoy and I) always got together during election time.
As a broadcaster, I see my first and foremost duty is to give information.
When I prioritise news, I do so to ensure that I do not become a parasite feeding off the baser passions of my audience. If I have a choice between reporting a natural disaster, a political assassination and a scandal, I would choose the disaster every time.
After that I give my editorial comments, as I am now in a position to editorialise. Much of Indian news broadcasting today is sadly, low-grade reality television. You can't call them news, it's entertainment set to music.
My professional life has been chequered. I have been thrown out many times, quit jobs, faced cancelled contracts and not endured in some places for more than a few months.
In my 34 years of professional life, I have taken up a regular job for just over 2 years when I did not have my own work. Otherwise I have been a free bird.
In 1987, the Government of India cancelled my contract when V. P. Singh, a politician about whom I had done some unfavourable stories, became prime minister.
In 1990, I signed a contract with the Observer group and set up their television division. In 1991 I worked with the Times of India group for some time as a director. These are the (few) jobs I have held in my life. Other than that I have been on my own.
What I like to do is say my bit. It has gotten me into trouble on many occasions.
In V. P. Singh I could see the hypocrite behind the man that the middle classes hailed as the new leader of clean politics.
I questioned him in my show, and when he became prime minister, he made sure all my contracts were cancelled. I was given the option of a compensation in the form of doing programmes that would be non-political in nature, but I was not interested.
When you are on your own, your career is also chequered - you experience real highs and lows. You are doing well, even prosperous at times, making good programmes, and then there can be financial crises and lack of work as well.
What sees me through is my spiritedness and doing things that I like to do.
Me and my family
I am not careworn at all. I have been concerned about my daughters, as parents usually are, but I have not been worried about them. Fatherhood enriched me emotionally, made me happier in life.
My eldest daughter, Bakul, has just finished her postgraduation from the London School of Economics. Mallika, is in her first year, BA Hons. I have no dreams for my children - it's their life and they choose how to lead it.
My wife and I decided to give them the best of education, give them property and give them enough exposure so they can choose what they want to do in life. As and when they feel like consulting us, they are most welcome.
We don't believe in this farce called parental wisdom. My wife, Dr Padmavati aka Chinna, and I met on the sets of Aap ke Liye. She has a lovely voice and had come to present some songs on the show.
On weekends, we get together with loads of friends. For the past 14 years, we have been holding piano evenings, with some pianists coming home to play and friends who are good singers singing Hindi film songs. These evenings end in the early hours of the morning.
When I work, I am driven - nothing can tear me away then. And when I party, I party hard. Driving around, cooking, singing, sitting with friends ... these are my pleasures.
Myself
Tell us one thing that we would have never guessed about you.
I do not have any personal agenda to convert my media activities and role into something else. One of my favourite examples is that of Harsha Bhogle - such a fine cricket commentator who understands the game of cricket so well.
But if he were to decide to play, he would be a disaster. Similarly those of us in the media are not players. We are observers and commentators.
We should not be deriving any vicarious pleasures from the fact that we also belong to a powerful set. We don't. We belong to the world of media. To do something else, you need to leave media first. I have no such ambitions, hence am happy doing what I am doing.
My show preparation comprises two hours and a whole lifetime. If I could rewind and do something all over again - that would be almost every interview I have ever done.
There's always something left which troubles you later, a dimension you wish you had explored. Every interview leaves me a little dissatisfied.
While I am really good at talking, thinking and communicating, I am awful at public appearances and speaking in public. I am a tiger before a television camera, but a mouse in front of a live audience.
I fancy myself as a good singer (my wife and daughters sing well too), but we are all extremely shy singers who only sing within the privacy of our home before an audience of close friends.
If I could, I would add a few inches to my height, and thin out my lower lip - I think it's a bit too thick. I think I talk too much, I end up saying things which I regret later - but then that's how I am. That's how it is.
