With the sudden passing away of Ajay Upadhyay, my companionship of forty five years is gone. It feels like some part of the body has been separated. In practice he is Ajay Upadhyay, on papers he is Ajay Chand Upadhyay. He and I started journalism together. And the coincidence was that both of us left Banaras on the same day with a gap of just a few hours. His destination was Delhi and mine was Lucknow.
Pandit ji was the first technocrat editor of Hindi journalism. An amazing scholar and knowledgeable editor. After taking a degree in Electrical Engineering from Maulana Azad College of Engineering Bhopal, he started working in Crompton Grieves in Baroda. He had a passion for civil services in his mind. So he resigned and came to Banaras and started preparing in the central library of BHU. He spent twelve hours in the library.
I was doing MA in Hindi and one of his subjects in Civil Services was Hindi. So studies, notes and books were shared. The reason was that the Hindi syllabus of MA and Civil Services of BHU was exactly the same. This also became a big reason for our togetherness.
We kept studying for years. During this time, both of us were permanent residents of the Central Library for about three years. Ajay studied a lot and studied so much that he had no other option except journalism. By then I had grown wings in journalism. In 83, ‘Jansatta’ had been launched and along with studies, I was also its stringer in Banaras. Then an incident happened and Pandit ji's path changed.
Shashwat (who is no more in this world), the son of Shardul Vikram Gupta, the owner-editor of 'Aaj' newspaper, was looking for a teacher to teach him at home. Pandit ji was a master of English and Science. He got the responsibility of teaching Shashwat. Along with studies, Pandit ji's financial condition strengthened. While teaching Shashwat at home, Ajay kept talking to Shardul ji. Shardul ji saw future prospects in Ajay Upadhyay.
He acknowledged his ability to lead and Ajay Upadhyay reached Gyan Mandal (Aaj newspaper office) from Seva Upvan (Shardul ji’s house).
He was made in-charge of the editorial page of ‘Aaj’ newspaper, which was once in the charge of Vidya Bhaskar ji, Chandrakumar ji and Lakshmishankar Vyas. Ajay ji brought revolutionary changes in the editorial page. He travelled abroad many times. In a few years, he was made the Delhi bureau chief of Aaj. Then, being the editor-in-chief of Jagran, Amar Ujala and Hindustan, Pandit ji became a Delhiite.
Health was always a challenge in his life due to his disorganised lifestyle. He became a victim of diabetes at the age of forty, which affected his eyesight. For the last two years, his eyesight had gone down by 90 percent. Now he could recognise people by their voices.
Ajay Upadhyay became the editor-in-chief of Hindustan newspaper at a very young age. Under his leadership, Hindustan became the fastest growing newspaper in North India. He was the most knowledgeable editor in the current tradition of editors. From printing technology to judicial philosophy. From strategic policy to the cultural structure of society. You will be missed in journalism. Pandit ji, you will be missed a lot.
