<b><font color="#000000">Obituary:</font></b> KM Mathew of Malayala Manorama passes away at 93

Mathew, chief editor of Malayala Manorama, passed away on August 1 in Kottayam, Kerala

KM Mathew wanted to become a good planter but when Malayala Manorama needed him, he left behind his dreams and instead joined the publication. It was a long walk for the man who reluctantly quit his business venture in Mumbai to join the Malayala Manorama as general manager in 1954.

The 93 year old veteran passed away on the morning of August 1 in Kottayam, Kerala. He had attended office even one day prior to his death.

TR Gopalakrishnan, editor-in-charge, The Week, says, "It falls to few people to leave the kind of legacy left behind by KM Mathew." As chief editor of the Malayala Manorama Group, he led the expansion and growth of the Malayala Manorama daily newspaper into one of the country's largest circulated newspapers, with editions in India and abroad.

Recalling his interaction with Mathew, he adds, "My interaction with Mathew began with the launch of the English news weekly, The Week, in December 1982. It was a bold experiment then - to launch an English news magazine from Kerala, taking on already established publications such as India Today and Sunday. It is his vision, boldness and perseverance that has enabled The Week to become one of the country's leading English news magazines.

"He was a total people's man - a constant practitioner of what is today called soft skills. He knew everyone by name and kept an open office where anyone could walk in with any problem and be sure of being given a patient hearing and sound advice. He invited the best of journalists to Kerala to interact with his journalists. He always stood by his journalists, peppering them with ideas - even his criticisms were couched in praise."

On a personal level, Gopalakrishnan remembers Mathew's unfailing sense of humour and fun, which always moved him. "He gave me, as he did all editorial staffers, every opportunity and encouragement to learn and grow - personally and professionally. Someone once wrote that to be remembered, one should write something worth reading or do something worth writing about. Mathew was one of those who did plenty of both."

Sachidananda Murthy, resident editor, Malayala Manorama and The Week, remembers Mathew as a phenomenon that walked the hard path in Malayalam journalism and left glorious footprints. He says that Mathew retained his green thumb. "Everything he sowed in journalism struck root and yielded fruit," he adds.

During his tenure with the group, Mathew nurtured magazines including Manorama Weekly, Balarama and Vanitha. In 1956, he revived Manorama Weekly to make it one of the best selling magazines in India.

Born on January 2, 1917, Mathew was the eighth child of KC Mammen Mappillai. He spent his childhood in Kuppappuram, Kuttanad (Kerala) and attended a school his father had started.

Later, he joined the group at the juncture when the publication was struggling to find its feet. The publication was proscribed and its offices sealed for nine years in order to curb its support to India's freedom struggle.

Three months after India won its freedom, Mathew's eldest brother, KM Cherian revived it but it was yet to find its footing. It was then, to lend a helping hand to his brother, that Mathew and his sibling KM Varghese Mappillai stepped in to help run the newspaper. Mathew became the chief editor after the death of Cherian in 1973.

Today, Malayala Manorama has 17 editions to its credit, apart from four dozen other publications in five languages from the Manorama Group. He also launched the first English news magazine from Kerala, The Week, in 1982.

Varghese Chandy, senior general manager, marketing operations, Malayala Manorama fondly remembers him as a boss who had a unique style of functioning. "He was a person who believed in giving you not only a responsibility but giving you the full freedom to execute it the way you wanted to. In fact, he never shied away from giving big responsibilities to the juniors as well. He used to put in so much confidence in his subordinates that one felt the pressure to execute the task perfectly."

He adds that during his career spanning more than 60 years, Mathew had been a mentor to many people, including him. "He was not only a great human being but more than that - he was a great boss and a great manager. With him, a generation of great editors has passed away. He was the one responsible for taking Manorama to such great heights."

Murthy recalls Mathew as a much admired leader among newspaper owners as he never looked at other papers as rivals. "He was all for competition which spurred action, improved skills and whetted the desire for excellence. He wanted all newspapers to thrive so that there would be multiplicity of views. This he called democracy in journalism."

Mathew's vision and efforts were not restricted to the business of journalism. He valued the human face of journalism as well. When natural calamity hit Latur in September 1993, he, along with the help of Manorama readers, helped raise Rs 2.39 crore to rebuild Banegaon, a destroyed village of sunflowers. He rebuilt a village that had 163 houses, roads, library, hospital, a panchayat office, an open air theatre, a unique village parlour called chavady, a gymnasium, a pond to collect rain water and a Hanuman temple.

He was married to Annamma, better known as Mrs KM Mathew, who died in 2003. She was the chief editor of Vanitha titles till her death. Mathew is survived by three sons, Mammen Mathew, Philip Mathew and Jacob Mathew, and daughter Thankam.

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