Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Reminiscing about the days when Marmik was launched, Balasaheb Thackeray with characteristic humour said at the Marmik Mehfil8217;: quot;Those days, the Sunday supplements of newspapers carried stories like Ill-Effects of Diabetes8217;. Why explain ill-effects of diabetes to someone who8217;s suffering from it? Why not give readers something heart-warming to read on weekends? That8217;s why Marmik was launched. A friend, Shrikant Gadkari, approached me with a telephone directory and pointed out the number of non-Maharashtrians occupying top positions in various companies. I started listing these names in Marmik under the columnhead Vacha ani Thanda Basa8217; Read and sit silent. But the Marathi manoos doesn8217;t get roused unless he8217;s bitten. So I renamed the column Vacha ani Utha8217; Read and rise. Later, Dada Prabodhankar, Balasaheb8217;s father suggested I form an organisation. And it was he himself who suggested the name Shiv Sena.quot;
