esk-top publishing
equipment for the new newspaper had amazingly been able
to convince the management that there was no need for
paste-up artists. So there we were, trying to put
together a newspaper without artists or computer
operators or journalists who could do screen-based page layout.

There were no dummy runs; in fact, on the night before
the first edition, I was forced to call one Herald's
former paste-up artists to come in and help produce the
paper. Today, all this may sound strange -- given the
technological innovations of the last decade -- but
then it was crazy, particularly given that the
Chowgules had a fully functioning newspaper Gomantak
and should have known better.

Then to the issue of staff recruitment, and and one of
my pet peeves.

Goan newspaper managements have always hired
journalists from outside the state -- at exorbitant
salaries -- believing them to be better than local
talent. And so was the case with GT, where my then
chief-sub colleague, a sub from the Times of India, was
paid twice as much as I was. But just because they are
imported, foreign talent isn't always good or suitable
for the job at hand. This Bombay veteran was such a
miserable creature that on launch night, with editor
Mohan Rao shouting his head off, one was forced take
charge and ensure that we got the paper to the press.

But no mention of this paper's launch can be complete
without a mention of the role Gomantak editor Narayan Athawale
played. While generally supportive of the idea of the
newspaper in the early days, including recommending the
hiring of staff whose knowledge of the language was
less than adequate, he almost knocked the paper off its
feet before it was launched.

For this the late Mr Rao was to blame; but it was an
innocent mistake. A few days before the launch, Mr Rao
asked Mr Athawale to write a piece for the new
newspaper -- it remains the only one he ever did.

And with good reason.

In it, he proceeded to say that the new newspaper would
convey the views of the Marathi Gomantak in English. It
was a ridiculous claim; but something that the new
newspaper took years to live down. This proved to be a
real gift to the paper's rivals, which they exploited
to good effect.

The early days with GT were fun, because most people
didn't give us much of a chance. Our staff resources
too were meagre. There was Pramod Khandeparker, who was
the Assistant Editor but was more of a chief reporter;