Courtesy - DM - by Ranga Kalansooriya
It was somewhere in March 1997, we returned to the newsroom and were struggling with the copy to meet the deadline for the first edition.
It was somewhere in March 1997, we returned to the newsroom and were struggling with the copy to meet the deadline for the first edition.
President Yasir Arafat had just addressed hundreds of local and international journalists at Taj Samudra Hotel after completing his state visit to Sri Lanka. Saba covered it for Daily News and I, for Dinamina.
“Ranga, have a look and tell me what you think of this intro,” Saba shouted from his desk. I rushed to him and the white newsprint papers were still stuck into his old manual typewriter. I carefully read his powerful intro.
“No… No… never... never,” was the response of President Yasir Arafat when he was asked whether he sees any similarity between PLO and LTTE,” read his intro (if I remember the exact words correctly).
Read moreIn basic practices in news writing, you should never start with direct quotes, we were told. But here Saba had broken that practice.
“I know what you are thinking. This is not a usual comment, but extraordinary. Arafat says there is no similarity between LTTE and his PLO. This is a historic statement. So you can go beyond general practices when the situation is extraordinary,” Saba taught me another lesson - as he did for the past two decades.
His first job some six decades ago was in Dinamina though he never understood a word of Sinhala. Then he was transferred to Thinakaran but his life was the Daily News.
Mr. N. R. J. Aaron in the News Editor’s seat and Saba sitting next to him – both were with very old manual typewriters – was a common scene in Daily News even in late 90s.
“Saba – what is the lead?” Mr. Aaron would ask and smiling Saba replies – “Don’t worry, I will give it on time.” No doubt, it would come on time and Mr. Aaron is relieved.
‘When Prabhakaran was taken to Delhi Ashok Hotel by Indians for negotiations I also happened to be in the same hotel, but came to know about Prabhakaran’s presence a couple of months later,’ Hameed said. Saba’s journalistic query was spontaneous.
“What would you do, if you knew that earlier”?
“What else Saba, I would certainly walk across the corridor and knock on his door – when he opens the door, I would greet him saying – How are you M. Prabhakaran? Shall we have a cup of tea..?”
When I joined Sri Lanka Press Institute, Saba once visited me with a mammoth project idea of producing Sri Lanka’s first Tamil journalism training manual. He exhibited an extraordinary courage in completing the task within the stipulated time-frame by leading a group of eleven veteran Tamil journalists.
“I want to see this book before I die,” he told me once adding, “and that death should come to me in my sleep”. Saba achieved both these wishes. I will certainly miss him forever.
