lf-respecting deskman
of that era in this state would recall.
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When I joined the Herald in 1985, the news desk
consisted of two unvarnished desks and three very
uncomfortable chairs. The chief-sub's chair was
distinguishable from the others because it had wheels.
It also had a back-rest and seat fashioned from woven
plastic which had given way due to continuous use by
Anthony Fernandes alias Anton, Frederick Noronha alias
Rico and sometimes Francis Rebeiro alias Choppy. I was
one of those who did not have an alias.

Those were the days when the PTI and UNI machines were
hardly two metres away from the news-desk and Rico had
invented an ingenious way of preventing the clatter
from getting to him. He used to stuff paper in his
ears, because it was cheaper than cotton.

I also remember Anton completing his work before dinner
on the night shift and reading a novel while waiting
for galley-proofs. How nice it was to be chief-sub back
then. I thought, one day when I reach that post I too
would read novels. When I finally made it, the system
had changed and there was no time to read novels. So I
do have some regrets.

Rico, by the way, was very possessive of the TV which
projected black-and-white images of the news. He never
let us watch anything more that the news and, if I
remember well, used to take out the `on-off' knob and
stash it in his pocket till the end of the shift. He
was, and still is, a work-is-worship chap. Rico was
also the only man on the news-desk who could type with
the speed of a steno.

We also had a thin wiry fellow named Madhu who made tea
and did some odd jobs like taking edited to the
composing room on the mezzanine floor and oiling the A4
paper print-outs to make them transparent. Every time
he bunked work he would return the next day with a
mournful look and announce that some relative had died.
Five days later he would conveniently kill another
member and disappear for another two days. This never
stopped because he had and extended family of relatives
comprising several aunts, uncles, aunts-in-law,
uncles-in-law, cousins and god knows what. He never
followed any pattern and killed them at random. Some of
his relatives died several times. By the time he left,
I am told, he had bumped off almost all the members of
his family.

I can't remember if Madhu made good tea or not. To me,
a cup of tea at work was a w