Tribute to Professor KM Shrivastava

Rest in Peace, Sir

Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee

Prof. K.M.Shrivastava, the senior most professor of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and an erudite media scholar passed away on 28th August. He suffered a cardiac arrest at Nizammudin Railway Station. He was going to Bhopal for Rakhi. His four sisters and mother were waiting for him. His mortal remains reached Bhopal next day.
It was sudden. It was tragic. But in a way it was so Shrivastava Sir - like. He never liked the idea of being dependant on anybody. That probably was the reason he never married. He was too independent minded even to have waited for death at a riper age.
His foray into media academics was interesting. From being a Botany lecturer, he joined mainstream media almost on an impulse. Then suddenly he joined media academics in Punjabi University, Patiala. He joined IIMC in 1993. As a media academician he was well known globally. He was plenary speaker at the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference in Glasgow (1998) on the subject of Constraints in Communication. He was an IAMCR delegate to the UN World Summit on Information Society (Geneva, December 2003 and Tunis 2005). He participated in IAMCR Conferences held in New Delhi (1986) Yugoslavia (1990), Brazil (1992), Ireland(1993), South Korea(1994), Australia (1996), Mexico (1997), United Kingdom (1998)., Singapore (2000), Hungary (2001), Spain (2002), Egypt (2006) and Sweden (2008). Besides he spoke at conferences organised by Moscow State University (1995, 2002), Canberra University (1996, 1999), University of Leicester (2000), British Film Institute (2001), University of Tempere, Finland (2002), International Institute of Sociology (1997, 2001) and Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), Singapore (1994, 2000). Chaired a session at AMIC conference in Manila (2001) He spoke and chaired a session at the Dialogue on Cultural Diversity at Forum Barcelona (2004). He also participated in International Press Institute Conferences in Vienna (2002), Warsaw (2004), Istanbul (2007) and Helsinki (2009) His books include News Reporting and Editing (1987), Radio and TV Journalism (1989), Media Issues (1992), Media Towards 21st Century(1998), Broadcast Journalism in the 21st Century (2005), Media Ethics: Veda to Gandhi and Beyond (2005), News Agencies from Pigeon to Internet (2007), Public Relations in the Digital Era (2007), The Right to Information: A Global Perspective (2009) Korean Edition ofNews Agencies from Pigeon to Internet (2009) and Social Media (2013).
I met him in 2002, when he came to IIMC, Dhenkanal as its Head and I was there as Associate Professor. From day one we got along well, probably because like him I was also a journalist-turned journalism teacher. He was in IIMC, Dhenkanal as its Head till 2005. I never realized when the professional relationship turned into personal. Now that he is no more, I am missing KM Shrivastava like I miss my father, who left us for his heavenly abode ten years ago. Both were quiet, soft spoken but had very strong backbones. Both were hard working and were not scared of taking responsibilities. Both had a keen sense of history and a stronger sense of values and ethics. Both had honesty wired into their brains and they were upfront about it. Both were never scared to do or say what was not politically correct. Both had a reassuring presence for me like the cool shadow of a large Bakul tree.
With the demise of KM Shrivastava Sir, I am feeling like I have lost my father again.
Rest in peace Sir.

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1.9.2015