Certainly uncertain time of death : A requiem for Ta Khelen
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 03 2018 -

Tributes to Khelen Thokchom at Manipur Press Club on 01st April 2018 :: Pix - Shankar Khangemabm

In as much as the only thing that is certain is death, it also stands that the one of the most uncertain things in life is when death will come knocking at one’s door.

It is this why the death of Special Correspondent of The Telegraph and founder Editor of The Sangai Express, Khelen Thokchom shocked the sensibilities of everyone and not only the media fraternity.

Ta Khelen, that is how the late man was known to most of the staff of The Sangai Express and though this space is reserved for the editorial, we will digress a little bit from the trodden path and give this write up a touch of the personal this time.

It was in the early part of August in 1999 that the present Editor of the English edition of this newspaper met Ta Khelen in his office room when The Sangai Express was in its avatar as the Manipur Free Press.

The meeting was short and to the point but what was impressive was the sharp memory that Ta Khelen had, managing to recall that the two had met earlier during the days of the letter press while he was with Ningtam Lanpao .

To those who came in late to the profession of journalism, letter press days were the time when a journalist had to double up as the reporter, sub-editor, proof reader and at times even as the machine man.

In short Ta Khelen was from that period when a reporter’s beat meant moving around on a bicycle and if one was more fortunate enough a Bajaj Scooter.

It also meant taking the TP news (teleprinter) from the fax machine at the office of DIPR which was then located just between police headquarters and the Chief Minister’s official residence.

From the cylinder machine, that is how it was known, to the present off set and wave technology, the late man adapted to the changing times adroitly.

There are many here at The Sangai Express who came of age under his stewardship, including the present Editor of the English edition of this newspaper.

Deskboys or sub-editors all learnt the art of laying out the page from the late man and for those out on the field covering news and events it was Ta Khalen who cultivated in them a nose for news and how to cultivate contacts in the corridors of power and authority.

Contacts, he used to tell the reporters, are your personal contacts, so value them but not at the cost of compromising your judgement as a journalist.

In a nut shell he was a guide, a leader and buddy all rolled into one and this is a quality that not many can lay claim to.

What stood out was also his ability to identify the promising reporters and sub-editors and give them the appropriate beat to cover, such as crime, politics and the Secretariat.

From 1999 to 2018, the Editor of this newspaper knew the late man from close range, not necessarily meeting every day but knew the working style of each other and his death is surely a loss not only for journalism in the State but also to The Sangai Express in many ways which is impossible to put to ink.

April 1 has never been so tragic for anyone at the office as 1-04-2018 and this should about sum up the loss of words that we feel.

May God give the needed courage to the bereaved family members to bear with the loss.