Leela Menon’s achievements are unparalleled in Indian media yet she was much more than a reporter. When she joined the Indian Express in Delhi in 1978, she was one of the few women in media.
Menon was born at Vengola in Ernakulam district in 1932. She went to the Vengola primary school and the Perumbavoor English school before joining the Nizam College in Hyderabad. She had a long innings with the Indian Express until she resigned in 2000. She wrote for Outlook, the Hindu, Vanitha, Madhyamam and Malayalam and served as the editor of Kerala Midday Times and Corporate Today.
The true calling
Menon was just another Kerala girl who learned typing and shorthand soon after completing the tenth standard. She joined the postal department in Hyderabad as a telegrapher at the age of 17. She was later transferred to Kochi, where she met her future husband, the late Major Bhaskara Menon of the Mundiyadath family.
Menon, however, had her goals set. She continued her studies and finished her bachelor’s degree course. She later joined the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan to train herself in journalism. She earned the diploma with a gold medal. She joined the Indian Express in Delhi in 1978. Four years later, she returned to Kochi. She was the first woman reporter in Kerala.
The mighty pen
As a greenhorn, Menon had the fortune to work with veteran journalists such as S Mulgoankar, Arun Shourie and Kuldeep Nayyar. She went on field reporting whenever she could. She continued the practice even after she was transferred to Kochi.
One of her first notable reports was on a ban on air hostesses to get married. She covered a host of incidents including the Suryanelli rape, Vithura sex trafficking, Peruman train accident and the Vypin liquor tragedy.
Many of her reports were noticed in the international level. She stuck to her chosen career even after suffering a heart attack and stroke and being diagnosed with cancer. The doctors said she would not survive for more than six months but she steeled her will and bounced back to life.
She was under treatment in the Regional Cancer Centre when she read about the blooming of the Neelakurinji. She wanted to see the gregarious flowers which bloomed only once in 12 years.
She lived to witness the next season but she was too busy to travel to Munnar.
The pathbreaker
Menon has often recounted her experience while covering the illegal hooch tragedy in Vypin. She was speaking to one of the victims when he suddenly collapsed and died. Her reports on the tragedy drew national attention.
The Indian Express acknowledged Menon’s passion for journalism and appointed her as the bureau chief in Kottayam. She was also responsible for news gathering from four neighbouring districts.
Menon covered everything from political and social issues to tragedies and crime. She uncovered a “nun-running” racket which lured young woman to nunhood by promising to give them jobs as nurses in Rome. The report busted the racket which was run by a priest.
She reported on the begging mafia, ganja cultivation, forest degradation and drug use among sex workers. She had trekked up Sabarimala as part of her assignments. During one of those journeys, she bumped into Amitabh Bachchan, resulting in the actor’s first interview after getting hurt during the shooting of ‘Coolie’.
Woman power
Menon brought to light many incidents of abuse of women. She was the first one to interview the minor girl from Suryanelli who was sexually abused by many men over a period of time. She brought the nation’s attention to Aruvakkod, where the weakening market for claypots pushed the women to prostitution. Her reports prompted voluntary organisations to help the people of the village make terracotta products and find a market for them.
Menon always believed that a reporter should be committed to society. Her rewards came as the impact made by her reports.
Being a woman was a strength rather than a weakness, she said. Women could openly talk to her in places such as Aruvakkod, she said. She could gain entry anywhere and see things in a different perspective.
She was the one to highlight the then chief minister E K Nayanar’s infamous comment that sex was like drinking tea in the United States.
She brought to light the problems of sex workers, women convicts and former mental patients awaiting rehabilitation. She wanted more and more women to be journalists.
She named her autobiography as ‘Unending Symphony’.
Leela Menon died on Sunday. She was 86.
