Harita's Maiden Reportage

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

This story goes back to a time when there was no social media and people depended mainly on the print media for story and headlines. Comedy actor Sidharth Kulkarni of Marathi cinema was in the news for the wrong reasons. It was reported that fans had gone to his residence to invite him for a cultural function as chief guest. Sidharth, 'according to sources' was not only unfriendly but threw them out of the house saying "Get out!". 

The chief editor of Cinema News, Ram Gopal felt that something was amiss. He had been following Kulkarni for quite a few years and he was known to be very sober and mild mannered personality. It seemed almost unbelievable that Kulkarni abused his fans and threw them out! Yet, all the competitor magazines were selling the story with relish and increasing the sales of their magazine.

Ram Gopal sent word for the new recruit Harita. As soon as she came, he got her to relax, offered her tea and made some small talk including queries as to  how she was finding the work atmosphere. The editor explained the situation and told Harita to dig deeper into the matter as the story so far does not corelate with the basic nature and temperament of the actor.

" As I know Sidharth well, I will talk to him and ask him to give you an interview. Let us get the story from the Horse's mouth! As your first major assignment, this will open doors for better things. So put your best foot forward Harita." he said  

Harita thanked the boss and returned to her table with mixed emotions like excitement on the one hand and anxiety, apprehensions on the other. As she was new to the job, she wondered how she would be treated when she went to meet the actor. Will she also be spoken to harshly and face the ire of the actor like his fans did? Anyway, she felt comforted by the fact that she was going on an invitation and also had the backing of her editor. 

When Harita  rang the door bell, she was greeted by by a woman who said "Please sit down. Saheb is expecting you."  As she was waiting for the actor, Harita looked around the living room. The show cases were filled with number of trophies Sidharth Kulkarni had won for best comedian including a couple of film fare awards. From behind, she heard the voice of the actor " Ah, I have been waiting for you. what would you like to have? Tea or something cool? 

From then on they had a long conversation tracing Kulkarni's career thus far and his future projects. Harita wanted to bring up the 'incident' in a natural, matter of fact manner without offending the actor. But, before she could raise the issue Kulkarni said " I know you want to hear about the 'fans' episode. 

"Yes sir... If you don't mind" said Harita falteringly. 

" Well, these guys barged in unannounced last Wednesday. They said that they had a function of their cultural association on 24th of next month and they wanted me to be the chief guest. "Did you check with me whether I am free before fixing the date of 24th?" I asked them. 

"No but we knew that you will surely come! Please make it convenient sir. We have committed to our members and even published pamphlets"  

I told them " Look I am not in the proper frame of mind to accept any invitation in the near future. Please understand and fix someone else. But do so after checking with the person first." 

This annoyed them and they started arguing with me. One guy said" Cinema loafers like you should understand that it is we who make you. Without us you are nothing! Understand you comic punk!" 

This was the last straw. I got up and asked them to "get out!" 

" But sir, why did you get so upset ? After all, you are a public figure and used to invasion of privacy" asked Harita. 

" Harita, you should know that we are also human beings. Three days prior to the incident, my wife Sarla had a miscarriage. We had been eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the baby after many years. At one time, we had given up hope of ever becoming parents. We were so happy when she conceived after a series of treatments and prayers. And then this..." 

" Very sorry to hear this sir" said Harita feeling so inadequate as a young woman to express appropriate words of  solace. 

" These guys came with the mindset that they were doing a favour, inviting me, a comedian as chief guest. Therefore they did not feel the need to check with me or even seek an appointment before barging into my house. At that time I was in an emotional turmoil; blaming myself for not taking adequate care of my wife during pregnancy. I cursed my profession for taking me away for days  for outdoor shooting when my family needed me the most. " 

"Sir, I now understand very well why you behaved with the 'fans' the way you did. We tend to forget that public figures also have normal emotions of disappointment, grief and anger like anyone of us." 

As Harita took leave and proceeded to her office, she felt that her very fist assignment was a very enlightening experience. She thought of the headline for her reportage. Would "Truth of the Matter" be good enough? Well, she would leave that to the chief editor. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z