As the news of the death of a colleague rushed in, I was horror-struck. I knew only this person from Bethiah in Bihar. I never knew about his wife, daughter or son and also what they do. I knew that Prakash Chand Dubey – a born Brahmin Hindu – was a Christian by faith.
He was my colleague when I reported for UCA News. I made him work for radio since he was keen on earning a little more for family maintenance. He was a person who worked free for social cause. Preferred to stay in remote Bethiah though he had a doctorate from JNU on international politics and law degree from Bihar university and also a PG in journalism. He was happy that FSRN – the radio news cast to which I reported first and he followed me – was giving him his due of good story telling.
But there was his inherent problem of length. If you ask for a 1000 word story, he would invariably give you a 10,000-word story. He initially thought that this charity of words would please the editors. Being a lawyer, he was right in his own way. But editors just scratched their heads since filtering his story was most cumbersome.
I made his travel to Darjeeling for a story on tea gardens. He sent us a story, which we used but in ten parts. That was the kind of length he used to give. Nevertheless, his commitment to travel and do human-interest stories was immense.
He told me several times why he remained a Christian while his entire family followed Hindu faith. He said there was no friction whatsoever on religious lines. He was converted into Christianity after the school and the college he studied – both missionary institutions, impressed him.
While his contemporaries are still tilling land and are landless labourers, he made it to the top – without actually spending a fortune. The difference, he told me once, was that they just could not get into the right place.
So he wanted his son to become a Christian all by himself and not by any sermons from the father. I don’t know whether that has happened. But I could never fathom how they stayed without any friction though they believed in two religions that are more known to fight with each other than show any harmony.
He was my passport for my long time ambition to go to Kathmandu via road. He stayed closed to Indo-Nepal border and was very well versed with the geography of the region. But that never happened not because of his fault but I could never keep my word of visiting his home because of my other commitments.
That brings us to the focal point of how much are we going to live or when are we going to die? There is no guarantee of life and especially for journalists – who are now deprived the guarantee of jobs too.
You can listen to a moving tribute by FSRN to P C Dubey. Click here
