The Alvas Joachim and Violet were a unique couple. They are the first husband and wife team, I had come across, who were both gifted journalists. Nearly forty years later, we have TN and Sevanti Ninan. Like the Ninans, the Alvas, too, were from different linguistic communities, Joachim was a Mangalorean, while Violet a Gujarati. Sevanti is a Bengali speaking daughter of an Andhra cadre IAS officer settled in Hyderabad, while TN is from Kerala. (I would jocularly claim Sevanti to be an Andhra.)
Parliament is celebrating the Alvas' centenarian status, Joachim being the senior spouse by three years -- by having their portraits unveiled in the Central Hall in the first week of December. Joachim had been a Congress member of the Lok Sabha from Mangalore for three terms, 1952-57 -57-1962-67, besides a five-year term (1947-52) in the provisional parliament. In addition, he was in the Rajya Sabha as a veteran member from 1968-74. Violet was a Rajya Sabha member who held important positions as Minister of State for Home Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the House.
I have a special reason to rejoice at the event because I owed my introduction to journalism to Joachim in 1945. On the basis of articles I had contributed to FORUM, while being a student, he called me over from Vizianagaram. FORUM was a highly popular English weekly being edited by him from Bombay. Vizianagaram, especially in 1945, was a one-horse town in north Andhra Pradesh. He asked me to join his editorial team on a princely salary of Rs.100.
Instead of worrying about managing on such a paltry income, with a widowed mother and two brothers to support, while keeping body and soul together in Bombay I felt elated at the prospect of being a journalist. But Joachim was not insensitive to my plight. He tried to help me in finding accommodation in Matunga, ' the Mecca of Madrasis".
He had two commandments for me, the first not to 'sir' him but to call him Mr. Alva; secondly, to tuck the shirt in the trousers.
Living up to be a 'journalist' was no child's play. Writing emotional articles on patriotic and anti-imperialist themes was like chalk to the cheese of catering to the needs of the prestigious magazine. Violet was a great help in the matter. She put me in touch with the librarian of the unique Royal Asiatic Society, a veritable treasure house of books. It was a stone's throw from the FORUM office and was normally open till 8 p.m.
Some of the cover page articles I had done remained etched on my mind. They include one on the national postal strike, which lasted about two weeks. There was ample historical background in the library, from the origin of the postal system and its growth and travails in England, where also they had a strike.
GS Bhargava
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