He would never say no to anyone and greeted everyone with a warm smile, friends of Chennai photojournalist T Kumar say of him.
The veteran journalist and bureau head of the news agency United News of India (UNI), died by suicide in the newsroom on the evening of Sunday, 13 February amid allegations of long delayed salary payment. It is being alleged that the agency had not been paying proper salary to Kumar for 60 months.
The Quint spoke to journalists in the city who recounted what it was like working with and being mentored by Kumar, for the past three decades.
Lost a Colleague and Still Waiting for Dues
G B Vanamali and Kumar have been the power couple in the Chennai newsroom with the former being the reporter and the latter the photographer since 1988. The two have attended rocket launches, political campaigns, election rallies, protests, and worked on every beat together. It was he who walked into the newsroom on Sunday evening and found his friend hanging from the ceiling.
Vanamali told The Quint that he is filled with rage, sorrow, and helplessness because he can’t fathom this as true.
“I don’t know how I will go back there and continue working. His family is very close to me. He is a man of confidence and was always the one to reassure anyone going through a difficult time.”G B Vanamali, UNI Bureau Chief (Present)
Vanamali has now taken over as the bureau chief as he was next in command to Kumar.
“Usually, when we went for a story, we worked in perfect sync. We knew everything about each other and so we quickly did our work. We even spent weekends together at the Press Club or office. We had been facing financial issues for over 13 years and he had shared a lot about how he felt strained, especially in the past five years," he added. But Vanamali was unaware of the debt that was piling on.
The workers’ union has demanded that UNI pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family immediately and clear all his legal dues within a week. Vanamali explained that Kumar’s wife had met with an accident a few months ago and Kumar had applied for an amount of at least one lakh against his pending dues for her treatment. However he was sent a meagre sum of Rs 25,000 only. Kumar's daughter's engagement was scheduled to be solemnised next week and it is learnt that he had applied for five lakh rupees for the same, but the management had not responded.
Vanamali explained to The Quint that they were receiving the salary dues from 2017, only now.
“I have contacted the management in Delhi so many times but they always just say they don’t have enough funds. There are so many employees who have passed away and their gratuity dues have not been paid. Earlier, we were a network with packed newsrooms across the country. But now there are just 250-odd UNI employees, who are reeling under severe economic pressure due to the delay of their earned wages for more than a decade now.”G B Vanamali, UNI Bureau Chief (Present)
‘He Is the Reason I Became a Journalist'
In 1999, R Sathynarayanan walked into the UNI office at Chennai, to work as an engineer. Kumar used to adore listening to the young boy tell stories and he believed he was made for greater things.
“He is the reason I am a journalist today. I didn’t even know that this is my passion and I could be good at it. He made me see it. He used to encourage me saying that I should push my limits, and challenge myself to become a reporter. I took his advice and now I have been working in the industry for more than 20 years.”R Sathynarayanan, DT Next Correspondent
Sathyanarayanan recounted the days he spent working with Kumar in Assam. He laughed about how the two would cook their favourite meal, ‘karakozhambu’ and hide it from the others because everyone loved it.
“We have discussed life, family, job, how we want to grow in a job, how we can’t settle for the sweet curd you get in Assam as we Tamizhans need our curd rice. The financial issues began as early as 2006 and so a few years ago, I told him to quit and join me at another regional publication. He was eligible to get about Rs 30 lakh at the time of retirement but he thought he won’t even get a partial amount. When I met him a few months back, he said that he regretted not taking up the offer back then,” he lamented.
“Had we known, we could have raised funds via crowdfunding and helped him out," he added.
He told The Quint that Kumar had reportedly spoken to his cousin a day earlier saying “he was going to teach UNI a lesson and that he can do that only with an extreme step.”
Kumar’s Death Exposed the Plight of Camerapersons in the Industry
For Srinivasan, a photographer with The Hindu, it was Kumar who had taught the basics of working with a camera.
"I knew him since 1988. He would teach me how to place a subject in the frame. He taught me how to shoot a leader and a fan differently. He would always advise us to keep our self esteem intact," he said.
Kumar is the former joint secretary of the Tamil Nadu Press Photographers Association, which was inaugurated by late Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M Karunanidhi 15 years ago. Srinivasan, serving as the secretary now, said that the aim of starting such a group was to protect the interests of photographers in smaller publications who earn as little as Rs 15,000.
"Even after decades of experience, majority of the camerapersons earn a meagre amount. This is not enough to take care of their families. All of us are working in media for the satisfaction the job gives and to help people. Had he told us how bad his situation was, we would have figure out a way to help him. He didn't even give us the chance to," he added.
‘The One Everyone Would Go To With Problems’
Jothi Ramalingam has been a popular name for those who read The Hindu every morning in the state. Ramalingam and Kumar have been photographers in the field for decades and the former is still recovering from the shock.
"We are shaken because we can't believe he took such a step. He always told us to believe in ourselves. In fact, he would advise us to keep working no matter how bad the circumstances were," he said.
A few years back when a journalist had died by suicide due to personal reasons, Kumar was quite upset.
"He had told that it was a cowardly act and that people should fight and live. So that's why I am unable to believe this. He was a kind and happy person. He would never complain or crib. Sometimes he would go out of his way to make a call and appreciate a photographer for his work."Jothi Ramalingam , Photographer, The Hindu
'A Selfless Man'
Parthasarathy, a cameraperson with News Nation was inconsolable. "We met in 1999 at a BJP meeting in Savera hotel. Since then, we had talked about work, life, family, how we photographers were becoming obsolete in this mobile world... He would voluntarily go up to camerapersons and offer tips. If there is a new person who had joined any of the media channels, he would call them for a coffee and initiate him into the industry."
Another senior journalist said, "He had travelled across the country and so his knowledge of the daily affairs was quite rich. I loved picking his brain and he was such a selfless man," he added.
Press Club of India demanded a probe and complete financial compensation for the journalist's family.
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