Dr. Prabhanjan Kumar Yadav, this is the name that I have been hearing for so many years during my journalistic career since 1996.
It sounded a bit different and the man in question proved more different in many respects.
My journalist friend Margam Laxmi Narayana, whom we fondly call as Margam, introduced me to Dr. Prabhanjan in Warangal in early 2000s.
Since then, we continued our journey.
Later, I happened to work with him when I was persuaded by former police PRO Shekar to give a guest lecture to the students of BCJ at SDLCE, Kakatiya University, Warangal, in 2003-04.
I was a bit confused to find a contradiction in his soft and simple looks and highly outspoken nature.
He was the first course coordinator for the BCJ course in the now famous SDLCE Mass Communication and Journalism department.
As I was initially reluctant to go to offer guest lecturers and as I was known for not sticking to my given schedules, it was a great deal of pain for me to meet his disciplinarian schedules and timings.
He has encouraged me not to feel nervous in taking classes and just told me to be my natural self and share my journalistic experiences with the students in the class.
His constant support and encouragement and the students’ overwhelming response to my lectures have really done wonders to me personally.
That was when I started developing passion for teaching besides the only passion of reporting for mainstream English newspapers.
With his relentless efforts, the first batch of BCJ course was conducted like a regular course and there used to be not less than 30 students in each session.
I can say that, Prabhanjan sir has initiated me into the field of academics with his visionary outlook.
It is a pure luck that I met him and it was a completely unexpected turn that I had to forsake my first love i.e reporting (and to be more specific reporting in my native place Warangal) to become a journalism teacher, which I am cherishing thoroughly at the moment.
Prabhanjan sir has made the BCJ course immensely popular in the Kakatiya University in the first year itself and the course is one of the most sought after till now.
But this was not before facing many hurdles, which he angrily describes as “upper caste politics in journalistic circles.”
Though I am not sure, it was anything to do with upper caste politics.
But surely it was something to do with the attitude of a senior campus reporter, who is known for his integrity but more famous for his orthodox attitude of not welcoming any change and for his status quo attitude in his sphere of life and politics.
No wonder, there are bound to be challenges and hurdles when you are doing something which is unsettling for the status quo supporting people.
It takes a big heart to withstand the challenge from the top guns of the journalism and remain successful in your effort by entering into their domain.
Prabhanjan sir has proved a point that the BCJ course must thrive and many working journalists of great repute need to get the formal degree in mass communication and journalism.
Many stalwarts working in print and electronic media journalism in the State have pursued the BCJ and MCJ course in Kakatiya University thus bringing laurels to the university.
Students of the journalism course in Kakatiya University owe a great deal of thanks to the initial efforts of Dr Prabhanjan Yadav sir.
Passion for Writing Books:
After the initial years of teaching in Kakatiya University, there was a long gap in communication with Prabhanjan sir.
It was after that when I got selected as the Assistant Professor in Telangana University, that I got a surprise congratulatory call from Prabhanjan sir.
I still owe my entry into academics to his successful persuasion of a wayward English reporter, who takes the life as it comes.
I thanked him profusely for his initial motivation and I continue to take motivation from his words of encouragement.
Prolific Writer
One thing that amazes me about Prabhanjan sir in recent times is his unrelenting passion for writing academic and social-cause books.
He proved a prolific writer and fearless commentator on social and political issues from his village level to the national capital level.
Now he proposes the emergence of Bahujan Media at the national level and this will be a path-breaking idea to meet his political goals as per his wishes. I got a collection of at least 8 books written by him on a wide variety of subjects and reading those books gave a deeper outlook into many issues.
In all his books, he proves time and again that he is a staunch believer and advocate of social equality and social justice and promotes the idea of social empowerment of underprivileged sections and calls for a fight against social oppression.
At times, he may get carried away by his love for his Yadava background and takes a jibe or two on other BC castes too, he reiterates his commitment for championing the Dalit, OBC cause.
One quality that still puzzles me from where did he get that undying courage for questioning and questioning ever, and questioning everything.
It’s a quality that comes with a price and still he is not ready to compromise on that count.
Need to be a Professor Activist:
With his high educational qualifications and rich experience in the field of media and publicity and more importantly his rich academic work, he truly deserves to be a professor of mass communication and journalism in any university.
It is a sad fact that at times he does not get the call letter even for the post of associate professor in our traditional universities, where extraneous factors play an important role, one day he would become a professor and continue his mission of academic-social activism.
Dear Dr Prabanjan Kumar Yadav sir, I wish you a happy birthday and best wishes on completing 50 years of life, which you have experienced to the hilt.
I wish you many more happy birthdays and many more successes in your personal, academic, and political endeavours.
I take this opportunity to thank you once again dear sir.
(Written By Dr. K. Raja Ram, Head, Dept of Communication, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, on the occasion of Dr. Prabhanjan Yadav’s 50th Birthday)
Nizamabad, A.P
Date: 09-03-2013
Taken from the Souvenir published on the occasion of Dr. Prabhanjan Yadav’s 50th birthday
