On May 5 this year, Tarun Sehrawat, a photographer with Tehelka, sent me a link to his most recent photo-essay on Abujmard, a Maoist-controlled area in Chhattisgarh. Tarun and I met on assignment in Dantewada in summer 2010 and had stayed in touch.
A month-and-half later, last Friday, I attended his funeral after a fever he contracted in Abujmard proved fatal. Tarun died of cerebral malaria; he was 22.
I came to Chhattisgarh as The Hindu's correspondent in January 2010. Reporting the Maoist conflict was the most important part of my brief. My aim was to document every casualty in a war that had claimed thousands, and question why a particular individual — be it policeman, informant, Maoist, or civilian — had to die that day.
Today, when one of our own has been irrevocably lost, I feel we — as reporters, photographers and editors — must turn our gaze inwards and ask ourselves why a 22-year-old photographer with access to the best health care in the country, was claimed by a disease that was demystified in 1897.
Fatalities under-reported
In Tehelka's May 26 issue, the magazine described how Tarun and reporter Tusha Mittal spent a week in Chhattisgarh's forests with little to sustain them but for a few bottles of drinking water and packets of biscuits. Neither Tarun nor Tusha was on malaria prophylactics, nor did they carry mosquito nets or even chlorine tablets to treat their drinking water.
Tarun and Tusha were not scatterbrained tourists — they were meticulous professionals who frequently worked together and took great care over the stories they produced. They weren't foolhardy adventurers either; the thought that they could contract a fatal illness simply didn't occur to them or, it seems, their editors.
I was equally unprepared when I first came to Chhattisgarh. Fortunately, one of my first stories was on how the State had among the highest malaria prevalence rates in the country, but the government and administration were under-reporting fatalities to avoid tackling the problem.
Over two years of reporting, everyone I met had a malaria story: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers warned me against travelling in short-sleeved shirts and told me sleep fully clothed; Maoists told me not to trust the water in most villages, Yogesh Jain — a doctor in Bilaspur — handed me a special mosquito-repellent that his community health initiative had developed, and everyone in Dantewada insisted that if you drank mahua liquor in the evening, mosquitoes didn't bite you in the night. “Or at least you don't notice if they do,” said an old man over a drink. But no one handed me a simple list of dos and don'ts.
Jamal Khan, a CRPF deputy commandant in Dantewada, gave me the best advice when he told me to get a malaria test even if I came down with a fever in Delhi. “Malaria stays in your system,” he said, “And doctors who haven't seen malaria before rarely detect it.” That, by all accounts, is what happened to Tarun.
“I met Tarun in Raipur when he got out of Abujmard,” said Anil Mishra, a Raipur-based journalist and a mutual friend of ours, “I had never seen him look so beautiful and grown up. His cheeks were flushed; he had a proper ‘Delhi-type' haircut and his body had filled out.” Tarun told Anil he had been ill in the jungle, but felt fine. In an obituary, Tarun's colleague, Revati Laul wrote that he continued to come in to the office and go on photo-shoots.
Malaria has a very complex multistage lifecycle — upon infection, the parasite makes its way to the liver, where it incubates for days before re-entering the bloodstream and infecting, before ultimately destroying, healthy red blood cells. Thus, several days may pass before its symptoms manifest. By the time Tarun was diagnosed with malaria at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), he was already in critical condition.
India's journalists tend to nurse a healthy disregard for institutionalised frameworks, arguing that it is impossible to take all risks into account. But a few basic measures could help eliminate entirely predictable and avoidable tragedies like the one that claimed Tarun.
It is the responsibility of senior editors to assess the risks that junior, inexperienced journalists take in search of a story. It isn't enough to tell a 22-year- old like Tarun to ‘Be Careful.' An organisation should be in a position to direct its journalists to information on possible health hazards and the corresponding vaccinations, inoculations and precautions. Reporters working out of conflict zones need specific training; all of us in Chhattisgarh operate in the hope that “everything will be okay,” but sometimes that isn't enough.
In January 2008, I sat by a bed at AIIMS, in Delhi as malaria almost claimed another young photographer. Ishan Tankha, a close friend, had spent a few days on a story in Chhattisgarh before he was struck down by a raging fever. I met Ishan at Tarun's funeral on Friday. “I never met Tarun,” Ishan told me, “But, I just felt I had to be here.”
aman.sethi@thehindu.co.in
Keywords: Tarun Sehrawat, Tehelka photographer death, Chhattisgarh forests, Chhattisgarh malaria cases
It's a mishap which miss the hope of sufficient health care in india we are preparing missiles but not mediciens
The public health protocol is any fever in India must be considered as Malaria, unless disproved. Malaria is a clinical diagnosis based on symptoms, and lab confirmation is difficult. Chloroqiune resistance has emerged and newer drugs have been developed. Prevention is best.
It is indeed a very sad situation in which has occurred. I'd like to hear the opinion of the union Tarun was in (if he was in one) and whether steps will be taken to prevent this happening in the future. We all have to learn from our mistakes, after all.
Hi guys lets not deviate from the issue, and it is the management of Tehelka, who should be brought to justice. It is their fault to sent this young kid with no basic survival training and back up to jungles. It is the pressure put by the management to bring sensational stories, which took a toll of his life.
May your soul Rest in Peace Tarun.. You are such an inspiration :(
This is a touching story of our young man and women covering in those difficult conditions. This is also not an eye opener for our magazines and news paper management to equip these people with basic guide lines and facilities to survive those conditions. Article almost ignores this aspect. As a mining and exploration company head in Africa we used to equip our geologist those going to these exploration missions (both locals and expats) with mosquito nets, malaria tablets, repellents, fabric camps and so many other things.
While it is unfortunate Tarun died of malaria, this article would not have got a
mention if he had died in a road accident, diabetes or even heart disease (despite his
young age) all of which are more common and more preventable than malaria. This
to a major extent is due to ,as the author correctly surmised, that it could not
happen to them. By the way, scatter brain tourists, they may be, but they would have
all had their malarial prophylaxis!!!!
It is so sad to hear People dying of treatable disease. Good work by the
author, it should be taken as an eye opener people concerned that health
is first. Reporters roaming in such remote and infected areas should
carry proper medication akin to army.
May be India is one among the countries where they do not care about precautionary
measures. Even if we look on the developed ones we see quite the organisations take
ample care of precautions for workers working in hazardous conditions like in
cement, steel and various other factories. Here even they do not get basic attire for
their protection. May hope this article will move government or concerned
authorities.
very saddening and beautifully written-even to this day, malaria is a
scourge though not as much as I saw when i was young- I am 74 now,
and still see an occasional one- Doctors have lost the skills of
searching M.P and no one uses microscope in their clinic ( Unlike me ,
an old fool).Antibody tests are fairly sensitive, though rarely I have
picked up a M.P when flourescent antibody was negative.I trust only my
vision and skills.Obsession about malaria is the only way not to miss
it..Feel very sorry for Tarun..May His soul rest in peace
May god bless Tarun's soul for peace. All the Reporters and photographers who are serving to keep alive the true journalism, please take good care of your self in such situation. you are our internal Soldiers, you need to fit to Fight.
RIP Tarun. Thanks for your great work. Wish you were with us for
longer...
This is a sad story and a good article. There is a message here for
journalists and development sector workers.
Very moving essay - such reporters are the air in the lungs of a
democracy. And malaria kills more people than terrorists or AIDS in
India and elsewhere. God bless Tarun, and Aman Sethi, for pausing to write about the remarkable life of remarkable young man.
RIP Tarun, your story is a grim reminder that as a country we have a long way to go before we can fulfill the basic needs of every citizen.
A sad and avoidable death! I hope that following Aman Sethi's eye-
opener, news organisations institutionalise protocols to ensure that
their journalists are well prepared with prophylactics, safeguards and
medications when they venture into hazardous territory. Tarun's death
should not be in vain.
it's really shocking!how can Tehelka senior people be so irresponsible
in providing proper guidance to a young journalist about the health
care in Chattisgarh.Wish they had been more careful..today Tarun would
be with us!
Thanks for a very pertinent piece in the backdrop all this hoopla around India being the superpower etc etc. Its not as if people in the developed world don't die of diseases or even malaria for that matter but the single biggest differentiator is the inexplicable absence of SOPs (standard operating procedure) / checklists etc across the board. In a crisis or when one finds himself in alien envt with unknown dangers - having a clear and updated framework of what to do and what to avoid can make the difference in life and death. Same goes for our ER teams, rather having false pride in a few brave men, we need to have a trained and re-trained team that we can trust blindly.
It is disheartening to know that a disease can stop life of a man who was on a mission. Though a 'be careful' isn't enough, the above article is a lesson for all those people who are in treacherous places. It is essential to carry a kit to safeguard yourself. May be the editors can provide kits to young reporters. Hope it becomes a practice after this incident.
"Rest in Peace, Tarun" But, I completely agree that it is high time that all the newspapers and magazine give proper orientation for health hazards for journalists especially working at critical areas. Health risks training at workplace is mandatory for any industry and your workplace is any place you guys go in world !!
A sad thing has happened and i mourn for the loss of a valuable life.
This shows the much need documentation and communication lag in our
villages. I hope people will realise the importance of nature and work
for the betterment of their lives.
Shame on GOI which is not handling the deadly diseases like malaria because for them it is not important. Poor and common Indians are still struggling every day to get clean drinking water and continue to die because of deadly but preventable diseases like malaria, TB. No matter how many five-star hospitals are built in India, unless GOI increases the health budget and these common preventable diseases are eradicated, India will remain a third-world under-developed country.
Deep Condolences to Tarun. Just imagine how many more poor Indians who lack basic health care facilities die by the thousands every day from curable diseases, why, because the netas are too busy filling their coffers or are busy evading a CBI arrest or are bust making the madam happy to get a Minister, CM, PM or a Presidents job.
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