Media man, journo and BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli remembers his days as a telly newscaster

I was born in Mumbai. My father worked in the government so we moved a lot. First seven to eight years were spent in Rajasthan, in a place called Khetri, which was a copper area, a year in Malanjkhand. That was a wonderful year because by the time my sister and I shifted there, there were no schools. And by the time we were ready to leave (as my father had completed the project) a school—the first school of the area— had come up. So for a year we were home-schooled. The best time ever! Mid 1980s, my political consciousness was stoked. My father got associated with Pu Laldenga in Mizoram. He was the adviser development in the rank of a minister in his government. When defections brought down the government Laldenga became the Leader of the Opposition and that when he would visit New Delhi often. I was jobless at that time and would double up as my father's chauffeur, driving Mr Laldenga and my father around Delhi. I would have the privilege of being part of the conversations. Fresh out of school and just into college, it was an idealistic time and I was greatly influenced by what I saw and heard. They would meet the top leadership of the country— Atal Behari Vajpayee, VP Singh and L.K. Advani—the whole works. I was privy to conversations which were politically enriching and stimulating. I was close to the political process, the political personalities and as a young adult, I realised I wished to be part of the Indian political system in some manner. However, before I could be a part, there were preparations that needed to be taken. The idea of studying history struck me because I wanted to be a part of the civil services. The subject seemed to be perfect fit! Also, I enjoyed history at the higher education level. It was a departure from what we learnt in school; just a chronological tally of dates. When you get into the socio-economic and political aspects of it, do you really, truly get to realise how beautiful and relevant the subject is. When I was in college, which was Sri Venkateswara College, problems over the Mandal Commission broke out. And one Rajiv Goswami, the youth who immolated himself, changed the course of my life. I witnessed the incident. As a result, the UPSC lost its charm and as a result I also abandoned my pursuit of history. But how did I meander towards MBA and law? MBA seemed like a natural progression because my father was an alumni of IIM Calcutta. Actually, he was a part of its first batch. My father and sister are the brilliant and academic ones in the family, while I have spread my interests; be it theatre or music or any cultural activity I have been equally invested in those. I studied hard for my management studies and though I did decently in most written examinations, even those for the IIMs, I believe that I truly shine when I have to talk before people. Jokes aside, I completed a course from Ford School of Management. Law happened later, a manifestation of my desire to be a part of the political system. And it seemed like a robust professional career. But both of us siblings have our parents to thank for providing us with a well-rounded upbringing. We received piano lessons, were encouraged to act on stage, sing and read as much as we could. By Class IX, our parents told us that we were free to choose our career paths; as long as we did not do too badly in studies we were free to do as many things that we wanted. I believe our personalities really came up as we participated more and more. Of course, the times were different then and numbers did not matter so much. As siblings we started to anchor for Doordarshan right after school in 1989. My sister and I had entered a competition and were selected for a programme called Youth Forum. Our producer, Mr Ashok Buddhiraja, made it clear that it was “our” programme—we were its faces. So, we did more than just anchor for the programme, involving ourselves in its creation, ideation and planning. We would talk to the editor, sit with the photographer. We really learnt on the job. We were young, enthusiastic and eager. In 1993 when Doordarshan started to look for empaneled producers I applied. It was serendipitous that I met danseuse Sharmistha Mukherjee, my neighbour, at a wedding. She was looking for an empaneled producer and I was looking for a meaningful programme and thus Taal Mel, a series looking into the heritage and history of classical dance, was born. We gathered 30 of the best dancers of India and based on the success of that programme I started Kalashetra— focused on arts of India. Mind, Body And Soul was my last programme, I used to anchor and produce it. In 1993, Doordarshan was also looking for newscasters. It seemed but natural that I should apply. I am told that 10 of us made the cut among 12,000 aspirants. For a long time, Suneet Tandon and I were the two English newscasters on the national channel. I was a broadcaster till 2003. Between 1997-1998, I was also a special correspondent for MSNBC on the internet. I met one of the top personnel at a seminar in Sarlsberg and we got talking. He said that he wanted someone from India to talk about the relevant Indian issues. I proposed a few stories and we began. In retrospect, topics I wrote of were relevant. I had no formal training in journalism and yet, my instincts worked. I had written a story on Indira Gandhi being at the helm of the Congress, months before she assumed power. My editor sent me a single-line e-mail, “you are clairvoyant” when she took office. So, at the risk of sounding immodest, I was pretty all right as a journalist. I wrote on the automobile and telecom industry as well. I started to contribute for ABC Radio. But by 2000, I was so tied up with Mind, Body And Soul and the news anchoring that I had to abandon all the rest of the writing assignments. At our time, journalism was not a career that people studied—you became one by default. As did I. The closest I came to structured journalism when I helped set up the International School of Media and Entertainment Studies (ISOMES).

If I Could Be...

When I look back I always wished to be an entrepreneur—I never wanted a regular job. I have seen my father in the public sector and I knew that in a “job” there was no disposable income. And when I was a young man I wanted to have disposable income and a comfortable life. My Calcutta days made me aware of how important disposable income was because I was near Marwari boys who came from business families and they had economic power. My intention was to get into exports because it was a good possibility. In the early 1990s, I really targeted Israel and Russia. However, this is were you truly believe in destiny. While I had to make no effort for television and continued to move ahead in it, when it came to business, geo-political circumstances made it difficult for me to start any type of business.