Shri Kesar Singh Gupta

The Beginning:

All set to make an indelible mark in the field of economic journalism a star was born on November 25, 1934 in Patti Kalyana, a small village in Haryana’s Panipat district in a humble yet prestigious Goyal family having poor means of livelihood. Eldest son among six daughters and five sons of Shri Nekiram Gupta and Shrimati Manbahoti, Kesar Singh Gupta since his fledgling days of life was something extra-ordinary.

Very perceptive and a quick grasper, he remained major attraction of the family. He had three elder sisters-Shanti, Shakuntla and Savitri and after him were four brothers Kailash Chand Gupta, Dharampal Goyal, Surendra Gupta, Rajendra Gupta and three sisters Santosh, Krishna and Raj. Reminiscing his childhood days, Kesar Singh Gupta says, “life was not very easy for us, especially with a large family of 13 members.

My father who had joined the Railways in Lahore as a goods clerk apart from taking active part in India’s struggle for freedom also had to meet his family obligations. Thanks God, that despite all odds and a meagre salary of Rs 30 per month, he beautifully managed to run the family though some financial constraints were always there.”

Education

Undeterred by the vagaries of life, Kesar Singh Gupta carried on his education. He did his elementary education in his native village Patti Kalyana. He was bright in his studies and was always appreciated by his teachers for his high grasping skills and eagerness to know more.

After completing his primary education he did his matriculation from the then Panjab University in the year 1954. After that he joined Ramjas College, Delhi to further his higher education dreams, which due to financial constraints remained to be fulfilled. However, even in his college days, he was adjudged the best cadet (tent) of Ramjas College 1st Delhi Batallion NCC for the year 1954-55. Remembering his early days of schooling Kesar Singh Gupta narrates: “Our school was situated some 3 miles away from our village.

At times we had to go to our school bare- footed. Summer days were really terrible for us. I remember in the morning we happily went to our school but coming back to our home was really dreadful as the ground turned unbearably hot under the scorching sun. We used to run between the trees to cool our heels under the tree shade. Anyway, we all passed the summer season with much fun and frolic.”

Entry into Journalism

Kesar Singh Gupta says: “Life was very difficult for all of us even during our adulthood. My father being in government job had to face frequent transfers. Prominent places of his postings during his service tenure were Lahore, Rohtak, Kalka, Shimla, Bhatinda, Morinda, Sonepat and Delhi.

Along with his transfers to different places we also had to accompany him. I remember it was during 1950 that I started working with my father on the railways claims. I drafted letters and from here, my literary pursuits started taking form.” Recollecting his days of struggle during early years, Kesar Singh Gupta says: “It was in the year 1952, I remember I used to stay with a railway claims agent who had his office-cum-residence in the first floor at Lahori Gate. Besides working on claims I as an office boy had to see that everything was neat and tidy. At times I also had to run errands for his family.

Leaving his children to school was also a part of my duty. Once, I was told by his wife to fetch a few things from the nearby market. Somehow I lost a few things while coming back to my place of residence. My father who was posted in the railways in Delhi also stayed with a businessman who had his business office gaddi at Naya Bazaar. My father worked part time for him in the evening. Scared by the impending reprimand of my father I didn’t go to my place for 9-10 days. I left Delhi, wandered here and there, slept at various railway platforms and somehow managed to survive. Anyway, good sense prevailed over me and I returned to my home in Patti Kalyana. I always feared my father as he was very strict and wanted us to be well disciplined.

Later I came to know how badly my father missed me while I was away. After that incident my father saw that his children were not afraid of him again. It was his love for me that I grew more and more friendly with him and also started sharing my views and opinion. I remember before my marriage with Narain Devi I kept prodding my father to buy me a woollen coat so that I could wear it on my wedding day.

However, what I got was a double-breasted cotton coat and a cotton pajama, and I was very happy too! These instances definitely left a deep impact on my life ahead. I knew the value of money and the significance that it held and even today I’m very cautious about wasteful expenditure”.

Marriage

I remember it was during this time of my struggle that I was married to Narain Devi. She came from a prestigious family from Bal Rangran district in Karnal (presently Panipat) in Haryana. A very simple, soft spoken and a skilled housewife, yet a great disciplinarian, she without having proper education skillfully managed to up bring her family. As she took over the reins of home, I went on to obtain my goals besides meeting the needs of my family. As I had stated earlier my father Late Shri Neki Ram Gupta had always been an inspiration to me.

My father who had matriculated in 1927 from the then Shibba Mal Hindu School in Sonepat had also passed his faculty of arts exam from DAV College, Lahore in 1929. He wrote poems in Haryana Tilak weekly which was being edited by Pandit Shri Ram Sharma. As my grandfather left for his heavenly abode when my father was in his tenderly age of 11, he had to face great difficulties in life. And all these reflected in his poems. I remember how my father used to talk about those difficult days and how he had to join the Railways to maintain his family.

All this, really shook me from inside and made me more stronger and confident towards meeting my goal. After my marriage with Narain Devi, my family started shaping up with five children four daughters and one son. The eldest was my daughter Rita and in sequence came Veena, Manju, Rajesh my son, and Kavita my youngest daughter. Here, I would like to mention that since I had seen the importance of being educated and the power of the knowledge, I always tried my best to provide best education to my children. Education of my children had always remained my first preference.

Journalistic Pursuits

I entered the field of journalism along with my brother Kailash Chand Gupta in a very early stage of my life. It was during the 50s when we started providing commodity daily trading prices to various dailies both vernacular and national under the name Kesar Singh Gupta & Kailash Chand gupta. I remember it was in the year 1954 when we bought a letter press machine and began publishing an 8 page news paper- Indian Market for 2 anna (12 paise) whose annual subscription fees was around Rs 6.

We did printing and marketing on our own as we were not in a position to hire professionals for these works. However, after being in print for few years the newspaper and printing press both were stopped owing to losses that we suffered. Then we started a magazine on astrology by the name Jyotish. Then came a magazine called Urvashi on cine stars, Chemical Reporter, Electrical Reporter and a newspaper agency by the name Capital News Agency. Soon, our brother Surendra Gupta also joined us.

However, all these ventures after some years closed down due to financial constraints. It’s true that if something is lost, it’s for your gain only. And this suited to us as well. In the year 1960 we renamed our firm Kesar Singh Gupta & Kailash Chand Gupta as NNS (National News service) widening its horizons as a Cartographic, Commodity and Business News provider. We already had links with the newspapers and some other newspapers also came into our fold. Here, two things happened. One, we had an advertising agency working for HT by the name Goyal Agencies which on partition was given to my brother Surendra Gupta in the year 1976 after the untimely death of my mother Shrimati Manbahoti Devi in 1972.

Second, in the year 1983 my brother Kailash Chand Gupta who had been with me throughout my struggle also departed taking Vyapar Bharti with him. This first Hindi business daily dedicated to agri-commodity trade and industry was started in the year 1972. Since it was the first of its kind it got a huge response. Its circulation went up in leaps and bounds. Anyway, after my brother took over its charge I had on options but to look forward and tread my path alone. By God’s grace, my journey even after these setbacks proved to be successful. I started my own Hindi business Newspaper Vyapar Kesari in the year 1983 which was well received by the readers. I was happy that with in a passage of few months this newspaper gained huge popularity among the trade and business circle owing to its trade and industry specific content, a perfect layout and design.

Along with this NNS as a news agency also became familiar with more and more newspapers and national and international organizations. Soon its subscription base reached a new high. It was during this time that seeing the interest of my eldest daughter Rita Arya in business journalism I made up my mind to start an international English business monthly on processed food and agri industry, and thus, Business Star came to life in the year 1989. My daughter Rita as the news editor of this magazine played a crucial role in expanding its readership and circulation base in India and abroad. Besides, publishing Vyapar Kesari, Business Star and running news agency NNS, I also brought out various trade, business and residential directories. The first to mention is the Rajasthan Trade directory. Then came Menthol Directory, Packaging Directory, Dairy directory, Agri implements Directory and many others. Meanwhile, in the year 1988 one more publication the Hindi fortnightly Meri Delhi came into print. With my only son Rajesh Gupta at the helm of affairs of this newspaper as its Editor, this newspaper soon gained popularity among masses.

It was in the month of February 2000 that we shifted our office from Rani Bagh to Punjabi Bagh (East) at the present address. From here there was no looking back as our Hindi forthrightly Meri Delhi got weekly status and then as a daily in the year 2002. In the meantime our own offset printing press, which was earlier located in Rani Bagh was also shifted to Rama Road Industrial Area with more machines being added to it and new printing technologies being incorporated. Here I would like to mention that we had already started a printing press by the name Kesari Prints in the year 1987 at Rani Bagh, Delhi.

My father, who had been a great inspiration to me passed away in the year 1994. Soon, I also lost my eldest daughter Rita Arya’s the year 2002. All these had been great setbacks for me. However, I knew that despite all adversities I had to move ahead as “The show had to go on”. And this truly has been the guiding spirit throughout my life. My endeavour towards achieving success has been well supported by my able son Rajesh Gupta, his wife Manju Gupta and my grandson and grandaughter Akshay and Tanvi Gupta.

Seeing our diversified activities in the media field we formed a company NNS ONLINE PVT. LTD, in the year 2000, with Rajesh Gupta as its MD and I as its chairman. Manju Gupta, the wife of my son Rajesh Gupta took over its rein as its capable Director.

Progress

Since its inception in the year 2000, NNS Online (P) Ltd has shaped itself as the most diversified media group of India. Whether its publication, running News Agency or organising events exhibitions and seminars, NNS is the name in the reckoning. And kudos to all my staff and people for their vital support and cooperation in meeting our objectives and goals of coming up as a shining star in the field of media. I know that with the growing globalisation there are numerous challenges before us, but for a die-hard these challenges could be well tackled by strong determination and will power. And that’s the sprit which has kept us alive and kicking. Today, apart from 80 national dailies subscribing NNS services it also has international news organization like Bloomberg LP on its subscribers’ list. Moreover, our services are also being subscribed by prominent TV news channels. I am proud to say that we’ve always believed in our strength and thus have taken no aid from government or private sector orgainsations. We’ve never compromised on other means when it comes to meeting our objectives, and this has really kept us in high esteem throughout the years that we’ve passed through. Recently, we have added two more things -one is Vaish Community Media which publishes a bilingual Hindi – English monthly vaish sansar and runs an internet portal vaishsansar.com and the other a separate company NNS Events & Exhibitions headed by my son Rajesh Gupta. Though at nestling stages, these new entities have been slowly and steadily climbing up the success ladder to glitter as global names.

An Avid Traveller

All through these years as a journalist I have travelled a lot both in India and abroad to know people’s need about business news and trade and industry point of view. I travelled widely in states like Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan Gujarat, Assam and other north eastern states, Maharashtra and countries such as China, Nepal, Australia, Europe, Germany, Dubai and others. Meeting people and thus gaining experience led me to establish my own marketing team. Today, I’m proud to say that I’ve built up a strong marketing network, which is devoted to the growth and development of my publications and news agency by way of generating necessary revenue as without this no publication is viable. It was during my visit to Dubai that prompted me to bring out a special Dubai Supplement, which got a huge response both from Indian and Dubai trade and industry professionals.

Achievements & Awards

Profession: Journalism

Posts Held: PIB & Parliament (L&D) Accredited Journalist ; Chairman of NNS Group ; Editor of NNS (National News Service) ; Editor, Printer & Publisher of Hindi Daily ‘Vyapar Kesari’ and English Monthly Business Star; Patron of Hindi Daily Meri Delhi, Chairman of Vaish Community Media, Patron, Vaish Sansar bilingual Hindi- English monthly, Member, Press Club Of India, Indian Newspaper Society, Forum of Financial Writers and Punjabi Bagh Club

Secretary: All India Newspaper Editors’ Conference

Secretary General (Media): Akhil Bharatiya Agarwal Sammelan

Secretary General : Federation of Small & Medium Newspapers Association

Media Director: Maharaja Agarsen Hospital

Patron: Uttaranchal Youth Journalists Council

Executive Member: Forum of Financial Writers, All India Small & Medium Newspapers Association, All India Agarwal Sammelan.

Member: Press Club of India; Indian Newspapers Society ; Special Invitee to Delhi Administration Press Accreditation Committee, 1983 & Price Review

Committee:

Trustee: Maharaja Agarsen Hospital Charitable Trust (Punjabi Bagh), New Delhi, Teerth Vikas Trust, Haryana Maitri Sangh

Awards

Economic Journalist award in the year 1983 by All India Small & Medium Newspapers Association; Economic Journalist award in the year 1993 by All India Newspaper Editors’ Conference; National award in the year 1995 by Akhil Bhartiya Agarwal Sammelan, Agar Ratan 2001 by Vaish Agarwal Sabha, Nishkam Sevi Samman, Senior Citizen Award by Hindi daily Punjab Kesari, Samaj Ratna Samman by Punjabi Bagh Vishva Vikhyaat Janmashtami Mahotsav, Special felicitation by the former Union Minister of Agriculture Shri Ajit Singh at the COOIT(Central Organisation of Oil Industry and Trade) Seminar.