‘If there’s no newspaper in heaven, he would be setting up one’: Friends hail HK Dua’s life, legacy

Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, leading public intellectuals and senior journalists attended the memorial service held on Saturday to say final goodbye to late editor, diplomat and parliamentarian HK Dua.

The prayer meeting saw Dua’s colleagues, friends and family members recall and celebrate his life and legacy. Among those who paid tributes was Dua’s long-time associate Hiranmay Karlekar who said “if there are newspapers in the heaven, HK Dua would have been appointed its editor by now and if there are none, he would be in the process of setting up one.”

Two strains of thought dominated the memoirs shared at today’s event - the first about HK Dua being a quintessential journalist and the second about him being a man of integrity and character.

Satish Jacob, former Bureau Chief of BBC in New Delhi, recounted how once when he chanced upon HK Dua in Denmark where the latter was posted as India’s ambassador, he invited Jacob into his home. “I spent three days with the Duas in Copenhagen. They were not my relatives but I felt absolutely at home,” Jacob said.

Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan, a long-time family friend of Dua, narrated an anecdote the late editor had shared with her. “HK Dua once offered Atal Bihari Vajpayee a lift on the scooter. The two later deliberated on a suitable headline to cap up the event and Dua came up with the most apt one - Dua takes Atal for a ride,” Narayan said as the gathering burst into laughter remembering Dua’s trademark wit.

Speaking of HK Dua’s interest in strategic affairs, Lt Gen Aditya Singh recounted how the late editor never missed the meeting of India International Centre’s Saturday Discussion Group.

“Despite failing health, he attended the meeting on February 7, exactly a month ago. This was four days prior to his admission in the hospital for the last time. He had also been the Convener of the SDG and used his vast outreach to invite knowledgeable speakers and ensure intellectual discussion,” Singh said.

Describing Dua as a gentleman journalist, Singh said what many will cherish the most about him is his humanity. “Dua possessed a remarkable ability to listen calmly, to advise gently and to encourage generously. His optimistic spirit and ‘twinkle eye’ was infectious. Even in challenging times, he chose to focus on possibilities rather than limitations, on solutions rather than divisions,” Singh said of Dua, also a former member of the National Security Advisory Board.

From the family, Dua’s brother-in-law Maj Gen PK Sehgal (retd) spoke, remembering how Dua, when offered the position of media advisor by Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda and later Vajpayee, joined the high office on his own terms. “On both these occasions, HK Dua sought time to think through the offers before accepting these. Anyone else would have lapped them up. But Dua joined on the condition that he would be responsible only to the PM and the Cabinet Secretary and to no one else,” Sehgal said.

Tributes were also paid by former editor AJ Philip who cited Dua’s favourite line, “I have invested in the fourth estate, not the real estate.”

As a train of memories passed by, Dua’s wife Adity and son Prashant sat silently in the gathering which mourned even as it celebrated a life well lived.