Remembering Josettan, the central pillar of KMPA

It was a breezy evening in September 1984. I was sitting in my tiny office on SRM Road (Anaswara Offset started in that small premises) when a white Ambassador halted on the roadside. A dark, mustached man, wearing khadi mundu and white shirt alighted from the driver’s seat. He entered the office, came straight to me, and introduced himself: “I am Jose Joseph, Printers Castle.”

The name was familiar, though I was meeting him for the first time. He started talking to me like an old friend. He had heard from someone about a small issue we had with the sales tax department and he came to me to offer advice on the matter as a fellow printer, on his own, without me seeking help. We were beginners as a printing firm, and his arrival was a great relief. He asked me about the issue in detail and comforted me with some jokes. “We will meet again,” he said and left.

I had heard about Printers Castle as a prominent press in Ernakulam and about its owner Jose Joseph while working at a newspaper establishment in Fort Kochi. Those days, there was a magazine called Chithrakarthika published from Fort Kochi. Renowned writer Vaikom Chandrashekaran Nair was the editor. I used to go to the magazine office during my free time to chat with friends. One of them was NM Mohanan, who was a sub-editor there, and who would later become the editor of the leading children’s magazines Poombatta and Balarama of the Manorama Group. (Mohanan later married the daughter of Chandrasekaran Nair. Sad to say, two years ago, Mohanan passed away).

Printers Castle, located at Convent Junction those days, was a meeting place of journalists, writers, movie scriptwriters and advertising fraternity members. Mohanan was a daily participant at lengthy discussions held at Printers Castle. After office hours, he used to catch a ferry from Fort Kochi and reach Boat Jetty. From there, he would go to Printers Castle at Convent Junction to take part in the discussions. The discussions usually were on literature, politics and contemporary issues. The next day, when I meet Mohanan at Chithrakarthika office, he would narrate the interesting discussions he had the previous day at Printers Castle. That is how I came to know about Printers Castle and Josettan.

After Josettan’s visit to my office, we met frequently. We talked, discussed and we came closer. He fascinated me with his personality, wit and friendly behaviour. He had a huge friend circle of people from all spheres of life. This was his biggest asset. He valued friendship the most. He was with them in their sorrows and happiness. He stood with them in their difficult times, helped solve their problems with his rich experience. Josettan had a solution for all problems.

As days went by, we both became members of the Kerala Master Printers Association (KMPA). I grew closer to him and came to appreciate the man’s potential as a great organiser and maverick leader. Josettan will go to any extent to achieve things intended for common good. He would pursue his goal with a clear head and self- confidence. People of all sorts came to Josettan seeking solutions to their problems. Josettan would go to the grassroots and find a solution. He used his elaborate network of friends to eliminate impediments that caused problems. He tackled difficult situations with ease and boosted self-confidence of fellow men to make them duty-bound.

Josettan was also a voracious reader. It could be that his love for books led him to start Printers Castle in 1973, despite opposition from his father for ignoring the family fertiliser business. He really enjoyed reading and discussions with intellectuals. He was a flamboyant student in the campus who scored third rank in sociology. Another subject of his interest was theology, in which he used indulge in arguments with priests and religious men.

Coming back to Josettan’s tireless efforts to expand KMPA’s functioning, he played a crucial role in conducting Print Miracle Expo 2014 and Print Awards and the Print & Beyond Seminar, in spite of his indisposition during the last days of his life. He came for the expo all three days, sitting in a wheelchair and took part in all programmes. Exactly after a month, he left us.

Josettan has a larger-than-life image in the hearts of the print fraternity members in Kerala. KMPA observed an eventful Remembrance Day on his first death anniversary on 15 January 2016. His family members, close associates and KMPA members paid rich tributes to him remembering the warm experiences they had with Josettan. There was also a video presentation displaying Josettan’s old and new photographs with his family and friends. The evening was really nostalgic.

Josettan was undoubtedly the man who brought KMPA to this level today and earned the association an enviable reputation as a prominent printers’ body nationally. He had a strong conviction that printing associations in the country must stand for the benefit of unorganised, poor printers. He fought against the exploitation of small-time printers by big printing material suppliers. A classic example in this case, was Josettan’s series of hard-hitting articles in Print Miracle against TechNova’s unjustifiable pricing policy of offset printing plates. The campaign through KMPA’s official journal received attention of print fraternity nation-wide.

What is this man’s contribution to KMPA? During his long association with KMPA, Josettan moulded a whole generation of youngsters with his carrot-and-stick approach. Sometimes he roughed up his younger fellow men at KMPA with verbal bashing and sometimes with friendly, warm advices. Most of his friends were much younger to him. Their friendship gave him energy to work, to think and to see future. In turn, Josettan boosted their spirits, made recalcitrant colleagues to toe the association line. He was the undisputed king in KMPA, though he never wanted a throne. His presence made KMPA meetings and functions lively and focused. His most important teaching to us was, I think, that he made us realise that in the short human life, the only thing one can do is do good to fellow beings.

KMPA’s decision to organise the Print & Beyond International Seminar on Josettan’s death anniversary every year starting from 2017, is very apt and appreciable. It is the biggest tribute KMPA can give the man who nurtured and developed the association to its present level.