SWAB 35th Year Celebration
P.R. VISWANATHAN
Whenever S
WAB gets into a mood to celebrate, it is bound to remember H.S. Suryanarayana ('Suri', 'HSS') with strong sense of admiration, pride and gratitude. Introducing HSS just as a father figure will not speak eloquently of his huge image in the field of Kannada sports journalism. He was the first ever Kannada sports editor!
HSS was a committed and affectionate father to all the aspiring and young sports journalists since 1960 till he breathed his last during the last decade of the previous century. Towards the end of 1960s the Sports Journalists Federation of India was formed with the four zones (North, east, west and south) as its affiliated units.
Considering the meagre number of sports journalists in India itself, this format (four zones) was generally accepted during that period. So Bangalore (like Hyderabad) came under Tamil Nadu. “We must establish our own association and get it affiliated to the SJFI”, HSS felt. That was a long-term thinking. HSS must have realised that the number of sports journalists in Bangalore was bound to increase sooner or later. “Let us get ready for that”.
Thus the SWAB was born in the summer of 1974. With DH Srinivas, a childhood friend of HSS and his colleague in Prajavani, was like ‘Chickappa’ to all of us while S Devanth played the role of the eldest brother quite competently. Devanth went to on to becomeSAWB’s president and the SJFI vice-president later.
Hafeez is about our best treasurer till date. Precisely, he inspired all of us to understand the importance of a treasurer. The SWAB, in its inaugural year (1974) threw a party to visiting journalists at the West Indies-India Test Match in Bangalore(That was Garden City’s first ever Test match). And that was our first major function.
The visiting journalists carried sweet memories and also carried the message “SWAB can organise things”. Thanks to the periodical communications SWAB had with SJFI and others, we became very close with SJFI and its activities. HSS was the president and R Arvindam was the secretary. And Veni Madhav took over from Arvindam in 1978.
SWAB had to wait till 1983/84 to gain separate affiliation from the SJFI. During the annual convention of the SJFI in Kolkata, the cheque for the affiliation fee was paid and we were thrilled for being an independent unit affiliated to SJFI. The same year SWAB got up its first ever awards function at the IIM auditorium (Opposite New Indian Express office, Bangalore).
That function helped SWAB realise that the entire sports fraternity of the state was ready to support SWAB both morally and financially. That was a great source of inspiration and from then on SWAB has been coming up with worthy activities. And as HSS had visualised in 1974, the number of sports journalists too increased.
During this period, the wonderful services rendered by S Devanath, M.A. Ponnappa, Anand Philar,Gopal Hegde, Vedam Jaishankar, B.R. Sharan Kumar, S.S. Sreekumar, Sutram Suresh, Satyanarayana (formerly Timesof India, Bangalore) and TP Krishnamurthy (PTI) were mainly responsible for SWAB’s success in almost all its efforts. I consider myself fortunate to have been the president of SWAB for two terms between 1990 and 1997.
It is my duty here to record the fact that there had been spells of inaction during the last 13 or 14 years. Fortunately, such lean periods were not in long spells. The main reason for this inaction has been the working patterns of modern sports journalists. “Let us sit and discuss SWAB one of these days”. We used to suggest quite often during this period. But who would create that DAY?! That has been the problem.
But the SWAB is lucky in getting a set of enthusiastic members at the right juncture to revive SWAB. And these men have never failed. In fact, “Let us revive SWAB with a bang” has been the motto. Hence SWAB is maintaining its prestigious status in the State and national sports circles. It has always been young and enthusiastic persons who served SWAB with commitment and honesty. And always these youngsters get the needed encouragement from the senior members of SWAB. That’s the mantra of SWAB that would keep it good stead for many more years to come.
WAB gets into a mood to celebrate, it is bound to remember H.S. Suryanarayana ('Suri', 'HSS') with strong sense of admiration, pride and gratitude. Introducing HSS just as a father figure will not speak eloquently of his huge image in the field of Kannada sports journalism. He was the first ever Kannada sports editor!HSS was a committed and affectionate father to all the aspiring and young sports journalists since 1960 till he breathed his last during the last decade of the previous century. Towards the end of 1960s the Sports Journalists Federation of India was formed with the four zones (North, east, west and south) as its affiliated units.
Considering the meagre number of sports journalists in India itself, this format (four zones) was generally accepted during that period. So Bangalore (like Hyderabad) came under Tamil Nadu. “We must establish our own association and get it affiliated to the SJFI”, HSS felt. That was a long-term thinking. HSS must have realised that the number of sports journalists in Bangalore was bound to increase sooner or later. “Let us get ready for that”.
Thus the SWAB was born in the summer of 1974. With DH Srinivas, a childhood friend of HSS and his colleague in Prajavani, was like ‘Chickappa’ to all of us while S Devanth played the role of the eldest brother quite competently. Devanth went to on to becomeSAWB’s president and the SJFI vice-president later.
Hafeez is about our best treasurer till date. Precisely, he inspired all of us to understand the importance of a treasurer. The SWAB, in its inaugural year (1974) threw a party to visiting journalists at the West Indies-India Test Match in Bangalore(That was Garden City’s first ever Test match). And that was our first major function.
The visiting journalists carried sweet memories and also carried the message “SWAB can organise things”. Thanks to the periodical communications SWAB had with SJFI and others, we became very close with SJFI and its activities. HSS was the president and R Arvindam was the secretary. And Veni Madhav took over from Arvindam in 1978.
SWAB had to wait till 1983/84 to gain separate affiliation from the SJFI. During the annual convention of the SJFI in Kolkata, the cheque for the affiliation fee was paid and we were thrilled for being an independent unit affiliated to SJFI. The same year SWAB got up its first ever awards function at the IIM auditorium (Opposite New Indian Express office, Bangalore).
That function helped SWAB realise that the entire sports fraternity of the state was ready to support SWAB both morally and financially. That was a great source of inspiration and from then on SWAB has been coming up with worthy activities. And as HSS had visualised in 1974, the number of sports journalists too increased.
During this period, the wonderful services rendered by S Devanath, M.A. Ponnappa, Anand Philar,Gopal Hegde, Vedam Jaishankar, B.R. Sharan Kumar, S.S. Sreekumar, Sutram Suresh, Satyanarayana (formerly Timesof India, Bangalore) and TP Krishnamurthy (PTI) were mainly responsible for SWAB’s success in almost all its efforts. I consider myself fortunate to have been the president of SWAB for two terms between 1990 and 1997.
It is my duty here to record the fact that there had been spells of inaction during the last 13 or 14 years. Fortunately, such lean periods were not in long spells. The main reason for this inaction has been the working patterns of modern sports journalists. “Let us sit and discuss SWAB one of these days”. We used to suggest quite often during this period. But who would create that DAY?! That has been the problem.
But the SWAB is lucky in getting a set of enthusiastic members at the right juncture to revive SWAB. And these men have never failed. In fact, “Let us revive SWAB with a bang” has been the motto. Hence SWAB is maintaining its prestigious status in the State and national sports circles. It has always been young and enthusiastic persons who served SWAB with commitment and honesty. And always these youngsters get the needed encouragement from the senior members of SWAB. That’s the mantra of SWAB that would keep it good stead for many more years to come.
-P.R. VISWANATHAN