Mark Tully: The voice that defined India

Photo courtesy: BBC/Getty Images

The news of Mark Tully’s passing in Delhi yesterday feels like the end of an era. For me, he was among the earliest voices on the radio that I remember. My fascination with the radio began in my school days in the mid-1970s, and back then, the day always started with the BBC.

At 7.15 am was the 15-minute South Asia Special, which provided a detailed look at regional events, especially in India. It was followed at 7.30 am by the nine-minute top-of-the-hour news bulletin (India is five and a half hours ahead of GMT). Then came the six-minute British Press Review, and at 7.45 am was the Radio News Reel featuring dispatches from BBC correspondents worldwide.

(Now, there is no Radio News Reel; the correspondents’ reports are merged into longer news-based programmes. There is no South Asia Special either. I doubt if there is a press review.)

At 8 am, we would switch to the Hindi news bulletin and then the English news at 8.10 am on All India Radio. (Now AIR is known as Akashvani and those morning news bulletins are of 15-minute duration.)

AN INDIAN AT HEART

The BBC was not just a window to the world. Mark Tully’s reports gave a well-rounded perspective to events in India too, which the news on AIR, the government broadcaster, lacked. 

Interestingly, Tully didn't even start as a reporter; he joined the BBC in 1965 as an administrative assistant. He gradually worked his way up to become the most recognisable voice of India to the rest of the world. 

Mark Tully was never just a Western broadcaster stationed in India. He understood the soul of this country; not surprising, considering that he was born in Kolkata (then Calcutta). His mother too was born in Bengal, and her family had deep roots in the country as administrators and traders for generations.

Tully never saw India through the stereotypical lens of "a land of snake-charmers and rope tricks." He was able to understand the historical and cultural contexts to many socio-political developments here, and so his reportage often sounded quite different. He also turned down relocation to other countries and to BBC’s London studio, and he preferred to make India his permanent home.

"TULLY SAHIB"

Mark Tully’s style of narration was unique, perhaps a bit atypical for a broadcaster, but it was his in-depth knowledge that won people over. His fluency in Hindi gave him access to the small towns and villages that other foreign reporters couldn't reach, endearing him to common people who affectionately called him "Tully Sahib” (Tully Sir.)

He has written a few books. The most well-known are: Amritsar: Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle (1985), co-authored with his colleague Satish Jacob, on the events leading up to the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar; and No Full Stops in India (1988), a collection of essays. They are essential reading for anyone trying to understand the socio-political fabric of the country.

PERSONAL ENCOUNTER

I was a big fan of Mark Tully right from my school days, and he played no small role in shaping my interest in journalism. So, it was a heartbreak when it was announced in 1994 that he was resigning from the BBC in protest against the corporate structures and procedures that the broadcaster began adopting.

In October 2010, Tully was in Bengaluru to deliver a lecture on religious pluralism, and I was fortunate enough to be granted an interview with him. I am searching my home for the photographs I had taken and the full recording of the interview; however, the memory remains vivid. Here is the clipping.

In 2019, in an interview at the 8th Odisha Literary Festival, he recalled several fascinating anecdotes, from receiving threats to being locked in a room by mobs in Ayodhya while covering the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He also spoke about topics like government censorship, and secularism. Here is the full interview:

THE FINAL DISPATCH

“... Mark Tully, BBC, Delhi.”

That’s how he ended his dispatches from the national capital. For generations of listeners, that sign-off was a guarantee of professionalism, truth, and empathy. While he may be gone, those words, and that voice, will ring in our ears forever.

Rest in Peace, Tully Sahib.

(Useful reading: BBC in India - How the end of the Empire led to a new relationship with India)