While working as bureau chief of Pioneer's Hindi daily Swatantra Bharat, I was invited by John Dayal to write a weekly column 'Diplomacy. This column caught the fancy of diplomatic missions in New Delhi. Every other day I was invited to a cocktail party where I met the social elites and corporate honchos as well as diplomats. One was supposed to hold a drink and move around, moving around, exchanging cards and a few pleasantries. Soon I got bored. In one of such moods, I was standing along in a corner in a five star hotel diplomatic do. And an imposing foreigner walked up to me.
" Hi young man. Why are you looking lost?"
" I am looking for a challenge in my life. I am bored of doing the same thing for last ten years."
He gave a broad smile. " What do you do, he asked."
"I am a journalist and write on diplomacy".
Where are you from", I played on.
"Colombia. Latin America"
I must have given an unfamiliar look. He caught my confusion. "Do you know Latin America. People in this country are not aware." He was reassuring in a way.
I took out my card and handed it over. He returned the gesture.
I read it.
David Sanchej Juliao, Ambassdor, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. Republic of Colombia.
I tried to be polite. Yes I have heard abou it. But not much.
Never mind. Come, to my embassy 7 Malcha Marg tomorrow at 9 for a coffee. Does that suit you?, he was inviting.
Next morning, I was looking for 7 Malcha Marg just before 9. I gave my card to the guard posted outside the house. He led me to the garden. The ambassador was a well lid out coffee table with two chairs around a table.
He came straight to the point. "Can you produce a magazine?"
"Of course, excellency. That is my job." I was in my elements.
"Great. I want you to sell Colombia to India. Bring out a magazine. I will give you 20k every month and a space to work from in my embassy." I calculated. My salary at that time was Rs 8k. It. "Are you game?"
Of Course. Thansk a ton, ambassador.
He must have found confidence in my voice and mannerism. From next morning, I started producing a 32-page magazine called Colombian File. It was distributed among the fellow Latin American embassies, numbering around 20, ministry of external affairs of India, and business houses dealing with Colombia and the mailing list of the ambassador.
Next day, I hired some staff and started working on the magazine. In next ten days, the first issue came out. It was black and white with his editorial on the cover page and articles from dons of the JNU like Prof S.P. Ganguly and Latin American experts like Lipi Biswas, Ash Narain Roy etc.
I took the magazine to Samlan Khursheed, the then minister of state for external affairs. He flipped through the pages and congratulated me. In a couple of months, the magazine was being discussed in the diplomatic circuit of Delhi. Other Everyone concerned took notice of it.
But all nice things come to an end sooner or later. After five issues, he announced that his tenure was coming to an end. He did n't know, how the new ambassador would react to this initiative. David was an ambassador from public life. He was close to the then president of Colombia and handpicked by him for India.
I kept my fingers crossed. The next ambassador saw the magazine and made a face. I was informed by his secretary that, I would have to pack up. The ambassador found the venture an extra cost on the embassy.
I was sad and heart-broken. But an idea flashed. I rushed to Salman again and gave him the news. He was more than reassuri8ng. Never mind. Change it to Indo-Latin American File.
That is how ILAF was born. I graduated to the whole continent and a half from one country and took an iNdia-oriented approach. MEA liked it immensely. The contributors expanded. So did the matterand subjects.
In next five years, the idea had become an icon.
I was invited by the then President of India Shanker Dayal and the then prime minister P.V.Narsimharao to their state visits to Latin America. I also joined JNU to study for my M.Phil and later Ph.D.
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