Jun 19 2023 to Jun 19 2023 6:30 p.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

The story of K N Guruswamy, the founder of Deccan Herald, is truly fascinating. Born in 1901, Guruswamy was the eldest son of Rao Bahadur Kanekal Nettakallappa. The family which belonged to the Ediga community, traditionally involved in toddy tapping, won excise contracts and expanded its business across the State. Guruswamy continued the family business, later withdrawing from it by 1986. Convinced by the Diwan of Mysore, Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, Guruswamy started an English daily, since Bangalore did not boast of a credible English newspaper it could call its own. Deccan Herald was launched on June 17, 1948 and later, in October 1948, Guruswamy launched a Kannada daily, Prajavani, with T S Ramachandra Rao as the editor. In a new book, KN Hari Kumar writes about the illustrious life of his grandfather: “He was identified by some iconic markers— the very large solitaire diamond ring on his fingers, the white kachche panche or traditional dhoti drawn between the legs, the closed-collar coat, the large white turban, the black Montblanc pen and the long, black Cadillac car. But more than that, he had somehow gone beyond the traditional mould of kings and warriors, of business, religion, caste, and family of the society into which he was born and flourished, and founded and nurtured a newspaper company which aimed to serve the public in the new democratic and independent India and which has endured.” This session celebrates a man of a bygone era through stories from colleagues, family and journalists