November 7, 2015.

This morning, Madhavi was brisk. Pulled out the steel ladder from its corner, placed it against the loft, swept down dated lots of The Indian Express, Mint and Mathrubhoomi; squatted on the floor, arranged neatly yesterdays words of news for the raddi. Looking up at Rama, made a face; the waste did not have much weight when Shankar, the raddiwalla scaled it; at Rs.9 per kg, the pile up weighed 11 kg. She kept me out of the process; in her view me was sympathetic to the raddiwalla than her; what she was quiet about was uncle, me, could be tricked by Shankar; got Rama to oversee the weighing and pricing; "Bahut kam hai," she moaned to Rama and added 'Uncle o mota paper nahin leta hai; Uncle ko kya ho gaya,' Perhaps, she was referring to Times of India plus Mumbai Mirror, with raddi value AAA+ rated by Madhavis and Shankars; Madhavi reads Kannada while Shankar reads nothing; me had dropped Times for Mint with Keynesian compassion for the rich (John Maynard Keynes is the favoured economist of Dr. Raghuram Govind Rajan). Rama has placed Madhavi in charge of raddi and the funds realised on sales; financial fates were linked to raddi sales; this morning Madhavi had dreamed of at least Rs.200, an ex gratia to go with a month's Deepavali bonus; she will be on Deepavali offs with her mother and children in a village near Kolhapur. Patil, the newspaper man was also upset when me shifted loyalties to Mint; 'saab, ye kya', he moans still and is trying to get me back to Times of India, where me started as a trainee journalist in 1970; possibly, Patil gets a higher commission; brokering smiles in Madhavi and Patil, me is into Sunday Times; the first moves of a smile and not an entire smile; Sunday Times if also off the menu; preparing the home and mornings for ushering in The Hindu expected any time now from Mumbai, going by a Facebook blog. The Hindu could be the last newspaper from Mumbai. Guts in the timing, when everyone, including journalists, is talking of the demise of print. Rama and me have to strike a Pareto optimum; Rama wants to do away with newspapers; The Hindu does not excite Ganesh; Madhavi, Patil and Shankar prefer spot trading in The Times of India to futures and options in The Hindu. Worked seven years in Times; some two years in The Hindu and 13 years in Hindu Business Line. Attired in middle class loyalties, prefer Times and The Hindu; help Madhavi and Patil; Rama reminds me of slack funding; 'Why all this? Is Arnab not enough for you,' she asks. Remind her: 'Arnab has no raddi value.'