A 78-year-old masters degree holder in mathematics, Sanskrit, Vaishnavism, and a doctorate in Sanskrit, has secured the first rank in MA journalism and communication at Madras University.
But can even Dr T.D. Krishnamachari, with four masters degrees and a PhD, hope to get a job in these bleak, depressing times when journalists, cameramen and technicians are being laid off by the sackful?
Dr Krishnamachari certainly has some multimedia skills, HR managers and bean counter please note.
During his tenure at TVS Lucas, he read the news for Doordarshan and even interned at All India Radio:
“It was the time when the likes of Sashi Kumar and Shobana Ravi were the news readers. I was much impressed with their intonation and articulation and joined Doordarshan as a Tamil news reader. But I left it after a few years.”
Three decades later, while pursuing his postgraduate journalism course at Madras University,he interned with AIR and rediscovered his voice.
In 2011, when he was 75, Dr Krishnamachari interned at The Hindu. after his first year in his fourth masters’ course:
“When I was a child, ours was the only house in the village to have a radio. Newsreaders like Poornam Vishwanathan inspired me…. Even now I only watch news on television; I do not like fiction-based programmes. So it was only apt that I took up this course.
“The news I read now is much more meaningful.”
Image: courtesy The Times of India
Also read: 81-year-old hack who never files a story, gets 3D film
Eight reasons journalism is the best profession
Congratulations: we have the worst job on earth
Happy new year to all you psychopaths
Shekhar Gupta: No better time to enter journalism than now
IJR 