NEW DELHI: Big bangs and whimpers — Indian prime ministerships have been a combination of these. Who knew? While VP Singh’s Mandal Commission altered Indian politics forever, making affirmative action for OBCs irreversible, in his private moments towards the end of his life he wondered if he had made the right decision. The conversation between Santwana Bhattacharya, Editor, Group, and veteran journalist Neerja Chowdhury at the second edition of the Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman 2024 shed new light, both public and private, on six PMs after Jawaharlal Nehru and before Narendra Modi, and the impact of some of their key decisions, in India today. Ruskin Bond receives Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman for Lifetime Achievement Chowdhury’s book, How Prime Ministers Decide, was adjudged the winner of the Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman from among four books for non-fiction as a “recognition of a lifetime of work”. Bhattacharya commented that Chowdhury’s book, a non-fiction, was “not for nothing a rage” and also a document of journalism through the decades. The book, she added, was an outcome of being “open to feedback, being able to read the air, as it were, and the ability to listen. Journalism is not just about asking questions”. Chowdhury said she was in awe of being not only the recipient of an award in Ramnath Goenka’s name but also for her work to be considered “sahithya (literature).” The Scent of Fallen Stars: A journey through time & loveChowdhury who is back in Delhi after reporting on Maharashtra elections shared anecdotes from her assignment. A veteran of reporting 11 Lok Sabha and state polls, she talked of her love of “hitting the road” at poll-time. “Cut to cut hai,” is a recent response she got from the ground—in other words, Maharashtra is going to be a close election—are instances of local flavour and insight that have left their imprint on her mind and copy.Bhattacharya also paused on Chowdhury’s “humanising prime ministers”. Chowdhury said decision-making at the top was circumscribed by many factors such as “vulnerabilities and superstition” and she wanted to capture them and these being, in certain cases, the drivers of the political stories of PMs.PV Narasimha Rao’s tenure, for instance, which Chowdhury said has gone down in history as one of “non decision” in allowing Babri Masjid to be demolished, talked of how Rao sat before a holy man asking him “ ‘what do you think will happen to the Babri Masjid’ and he replying ‘I don’t see it there’”.Speaking of Modi, Chowdhury said that even though she had included him in her first draft, “few were willing to talk of what was going on. My book is mostly through people on record.” A book on Modi, she said is for the future.
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