J Dey knew of the skeletons in the cupboard
Although I had met him briefly a few times I did not know Jyotirmoy Dey personally. For me he was just a byline – “J Dey”.
We both worked for Mid-day, and we both had two stints with that paper, but we never worked together. In the early 1990’s when I was the Chief Sub-Editor he started to freelance for Mid-day. He wasn’t a conventional stringer since he held a day job and only occasionally “dabbled’ in journalism.
Among other things, I remember, he wrote on environmental issues and on land scams in Mumbai’s North western suburbs. He also did a bit of photo-journalism. Stories filed by freelancers are usually kept as space-fillers to be used on ‘dry’ days and J Dey was no exception. Although I may have ‘subbed’ some of his copies I had no idea who he was. In fact I always assumed that ‘J Dey’ was a pseudonym.
His was basically ‘enthusiastic amateur’ stuff, and at that time 20 years ago, I had no idea he would go on to become a legendary crime reporter.
In 1994 I left Mid-day, as part of a minor exodus, and a lot of rookie reporters were recruited. J Dey was one of them. Although I was not employed full-time, I continued to write a column for the paper and I recollect bumping into this gentle giant whenever I would go to the office to hand in my column. (Those were the days before email and the internet.)
He was very tall and lanky and had a bit of a stoop. He was also quite retiring and generally kept to himself. It is strange calling him a rookie since he was in his mid-30s – an age when a reporter starts to become a veteran. I always thought he looked more like an erudite university professor rather than a rough-and-tumble crime reporter. (Subha Sharma was another of the young reporters who, I think, joined around the same time. I worked with her for quite a few years. She later became his wife.)
In 1996 I rejoined Mid-day as the News Editor of Sunday Mid-day, but J Dey had already left Mid-day to join the Indian Express. (Interestingly in the months I was away, a mystery byline called ‘S M Dey’ started to appear in Sunday Mid-day. A few days after joining Sunday Mid-day I asked the Assistant Editor if S M Dey was any relation of J Dey. It turned out that S M Dey was a pseudonym for ‘Sunday Mid-day’! We used this byline when we did not want to attribute the source of the story.)
In 2000 I left Mid-day for the second time. In the interim J Dey had started to make a name for himself as an investigative reporter. After I left Mid-day I did a couple of freelance stories for the Indian Express. On one of my visits to the Express the Executive Editor introduced me to J Dey. The story I was doing was investigative, and the Editor wanted to consult J Dey. It was ironic. He was no longer the shy rookie of a few years ago but a respected veteran. And I, after 13 years in journalism and having quit as an Assistant Editor, had become the freelancer.
I lost touch with the Mumbai journalism scene after I moved to New Zealand. In fact I had no idea that J Dey had rejoined Mid-day.
Last Sunday, when the story of Joytirmoy Dey’s killing was flashed on Times Now TV I didn’t pay attention until the field correspondent referred to him as ‘J Dey’… then it suddenly struck home. “Oh my God,” I told my wife, “J Dey is dead.”
Although I had met him briefly a few times I did not know Jyotirmoy Dey personally. For me he was just a byline – “J Dey”. We both worked for Mid-day, and we both had two stints with that paper, but we never worked together. In the early 1990’s when I was the Chief Sub-Editor he started to...
Although I had met him briefly a few times I did not know Jyotirmoy Dey personally. For me he was just a byline – “J Dey”.
We both worked for Mid-day, and we both had two stints with that paper, but we never worked together. In the early 1990’s when I was the Chief Sub-Editor he started to freelance for Mid-day. He wasn’t a conventional stringer since he held a day job and only occasionally “dabbled’ in journalism.
Among other things, I remember, he wrote on environmental issues and on land scams in Mumbai’s North western suburbs. He also did a bit of photo-journalism. Stories filed by freelancers are usually kept as space-fillers to be used on ‘dry’ days and J Dey was no exception. Although I may have ‘subbed’ some of his copies I had no idea who he was. In fact I always assumed that ‘J Dey’ was a pseudonym.
His was basically ‘enthusiastic amateur’ stuff, and at that time 20 years ago, I had no idea he would go on to become a legendary crime reporter.
In 1994 I left Mid-day, as part of a minor exodus, and a lot of rookie reporters were recruited. J Dey was one of them. Although I was not employed full-time, I continued to write a column for the paper and I recollect bumping into this gentle giant whenever I would go to the office to hand in my column. (Those were the days before email and the internet.)
He was very tall and lanky and had a bit of a stoop. He was also quite retiring and generally kept to himself. It is strange calling him a rookie since he was in his mid-30s – an age when a reporter starts to become a veteran. I always thought he looked more like an erudite university professor rather than a rough-and-tumble crime reporter. (Subha Sharma was another of the young reporters who, I think, joined around the same time. I worked with her for quite a few years. She later became his wife.)
In 1996 I rejoined Mid-day as the News Editor of Sunday Mid-day, but J Dey had already left Mid-day to join the Indian Express. (Interestingly in the months I was away, a mystery byline called ‘S M Dey’ started to appear in Sunday Mid-day. A few days after joining Sunday Mid-day I asked the Assistant Editor if S M Dey was any relation of J Dey. It turned out that S M Dey was a pseudonym for ‘Sunday Mid-day’! We used this byline when we did not want to attribute the source of the story.)
In 2000 I left Mid-day for the second time. In the interim J Dey had started to make a name for himself as an investigative reporter. After I left Mid-day I did a couple of freelance stories for the Indian Express. On one of my visits to the Express the Executive Editor introduced me to J Dey. The story I was doing was investigative, and the Editor wanted to consult J Dey. It was ironic. He was no longer the shy rookie of a few years ago but a respected veteran. And I, after 13 years in journalism and having quit as an Assistant Editor, had become the freelancer.
I lost touch with the Mumbai journalism scene after I moved to New Zealand. In fact I had no idea that J Dey had rejoined Mid-day.
Last Sunday, when the story of Joytirmoy Dey’s killing was flashed on Times Now TV I didn’t pay attention until the field correspondent referred to him as ‘J Dey’… then it suddenly struck home. “Oh my God,” I told my wife, “J Dey is dead.”
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