Padma Bhushan Dr.M V Kamath was born in Udupi on September 7th, 1921;Madav Vittal Kamath was the youngest of the 7 children of his lawyer father. He had his early education from St Cecily’s Convent, Christian High School and Board High School, in Udupi before completing his plus two in Science from Government College, Mangalore. He nurtured an ambition of becoming a doctor but due to thelack of financial backing he was sent to Mumbai to continue his education under the care of his elder brother. As he had his education in Udupi which came under Madras Presidency he was required to pay Rs. 3000/- as transfer fee to Mumbai Presidency, thus dashing his hopes of getting a medical seat. He graduated in science from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai and was offered a job of reporter by the Free Press Journal with a salary of Rs 16/-. But he settled for the job of a Chemist with a salary of Rs. 28/- per month which was higher than the one offered by the Free Press. But ultimately the attraction of pen proved mightier and he became a journalist.
Since becoming a doctor remained a distant dream, he chose the journalistic career as the second option. But he never stopped chasing his unfulfilled dream. He saved money carefully to pay for his medical seat and by the age of 34 could save Rs. 10,000/-. Using his position as an editor he went to the then Health Minister Shantilal Shaw requesting for a medical seat. But Shaw convinced him that he would be 41 by the time he completes his education and starts practicing, which is not the right time to start a career as a doctor.
Dr. Kamath joined as correspondent of Free Press in 1946 and has worked as the Editor of Free Press, United Nations(UN), Correspondent for Press Trust of India(PTI), Europe Correspondent of Times of India, Editor of Sunday Times for two years (1967 – 69) and then rejoined Times as the Washington Correspondent for nearly 10 years (1969- 78). He has also served as editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India. Dr. Kamath was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004.
Though he has retired from the service, he has not retired in the true sense of the term. Since 1981 Kamath has written about 50 books on a plethora of subjects from politics to banking.At 81, he was appointed Chairman of Prasar Bharathi and got a peep into the bureaucratic set up. He could not get along with the strong AS lobby and came out of it after a span of 4 years at the helm. He is attributed for launching the popular “Science Train” as a part of VigyanPrasar.
He is a bachelor in every sense of the term and who enjoys cooking, taking life as it comes. He doesn’t socialize much and prefers reading books. He treasures his portable Italian made, Olivetti Lettera22 typewriter and dotingly calls it as “my girlfriend” as it has been his constant companion for the last 60 years travelling with him to America, Europe, Japan, China and all other places he had visited during his journalistic days. As a journalist, he holds late S Sadanand, the founder editor of Free Press in high esteem for his courage and conviction. Dr. Kamath is also the contemporary honorary director of Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal. His autobiography is ‘A Reporter at large’.
Read Dr. M V Kamath Exclusive Interview with KYS.