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In Praise Of...Sir Mark Tully

In an era when noise is mistaken for news, the ear pines for his soothing, non-combative style.

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In Praise Of...Sir Mark Tully
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The news media is often accused of being unceasingly negative. So, in a renewed spirit of positivity, we doff our hats to Sir Mark Tully, who has just turned 80. His gravelly voice no longer rules the air waves and a new gene­ration may need to be told who he was. But Tully ‘sahib’ was India’s first celebrity journalist, a cult figure known, admi­red and tru­sted wherever the BBC reached, the man Rajiv turned to, to confirm his mother’s death even though it was Indira who had thrown out the BBC’s man in Delhi for doing his job.

For so many of us, he was the model to emulate: a repository of information, an embodiment of fairness, and unfailingly courteous. In an era when noise is mistaken for news, the ear pines for his soothing, non-combative style. But as the tall figure emerges in Lodi Garden, accompanied by his partner and their pet dog, something tells us all is well with the world. As he spent his birthday in his typical self-deprecating manner, accepting congratulations but avoiding the limelight, the mind harked back to what once was.

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