Anthony Jesudasan, or Tony, as everyone addressed him, who passed away Monday, was something of a legend in the field of corporate communications. He was one of a kind in the public relations world, who operated at many different levels. He had friends in all walks of life, not just in the media and business. His enviable contacts in politics, the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the police, high society and the diplomatic world provided him invaluable information and kept him constantly plugged into the corridors of power.
He could walk into the office of some of the leading media proprietors, but was just as comfortable sipping coffee with a humble reporter. He was an incredible source of information not just for his boss, Anil Ambani, who treated him more as a colleague than a subordinate, but for many newspersons who frequently knocked on his door hoping to get a story — or the hint of one. (When he was first admitted to hospital after a heart attack, Anil Ambani was on the line with eminent doctors for advice. His wife Tina flew to Delhi to console his widow Parul and Anil will attend his funeral Tuesday.)
Some of the big scoops in the newspaper world, whether leaked private telephone conversations of high-powered businessmen trying to cover up their links or the eye-popping telephonic exchanges between a smooth-talking lobbyist who liaised between journalists, politicians and businessmen for political favours, were whispered to have a Tony connection.
So were political exposes of those unfriendly to his group. But just as with an ace spy who always remains in the shadows, Tony’s fingerprints could never be actually traced to any of the controversies.
My first encounter with Tony is firmly etched in my memory. It was in late 1985 and he was the very first visitor to the Sunday Mail office, a yet-to-be-launched weekly tabloid where I was editor in charge of news — and the owner was Pramod Kapoor. Our jaws dropped at our strange visitor who had managed to track down our new office in one of the dusty bylanes of Daryaganj, even before the newspaper had actually come out. Tony explained breezily that he worked for the American embassy and they were curious to find out who was behind the new Sunday newspaper coming to town, since one rumour claimed it was funded by the CIA!
The curiosity and enterprise he displayed in locating our sleepy office and striking up a lifelong friendship with Pramod and me were characteristics which stood him in good stead all his life and made him the effective dean of the New Delhi corp comm corps.
After graduating with an MBA from Delhi University’s FMS, Tony’s first job was at the US embassy where he worked in several departments, from Span magazine and Voice of America to media planning. He joined The Times of India for a fortnight but the late Dhirubhai Ambani, head of the Reliance group, who had spotted his talents earlier, persuaded him to drop journalism and join his company in Delhi.
At that time, V Balasubramaniam (known generally as Balu) was Dhirubhai’s trusted aide in the capital who liaised on his behalf with politicians, senior officials and scribes.The shrewd Dhirubhai, under pressure when V P Singh became Prime Minister, realised the need to introduce a fresh face who could interact effectively with a younger generation of scribes and politicians. Over time, Tony effectively became the face of the Ambani group in Delhi.
One of Tony’s most endearing attributes was his generosity and warmth. Even when a person might have written against his business house, he bore no ill will. “He would go out of his way to help anyone,” recalls Balu’s nephew A N Sethuraman, who worked with Tony for many years. When Sethu was arrested in 2002 under the Official Secrets Act, Tony moved heaven and earth to help him.
After brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani separated their businesses, Tony remained with the younger brother Anil, though most senior employees gravitated to Mukesh’s corner.
Far more than just a communications man, Tony assisted Anil on new business opportunities and frequently travelled abroad in connection with Anil’s interests in the new sectors, including defence. On Anil’s frequent trips to the North and South Block, Tony was generally by his side. Tony’s tragedy, perhaps, was that he was too indispensable to the Reliance group and hence could not be spared though he often spoke longingly of retirement.
He was a devoted family man who encouraged his wife Parul Sharma, also a corporate communication professional, to discover and grow as a photographer and was extremely proud when their daughter Preetika went to study architecture last year at a prestigious US college.
A social man who was often seen at high-society parties in Delhi, one of his passions was riding a motorcycle on Sunday in his trademark blue-padded jacket and jeans. At the parties, he was one of a crowd, never on the stage or under the spotlight. In a city of power, where access and whispers are currency, he was the quintessential insider but remained, in his head and heart, an outsider — at a respectable, and healthy, distance from the powerful.
The writer is consulting editor, The Indian Express
