If you ask me, the single biggest contributor to the mess that India is in now is our media. Any problem–be it economy or the endangering of civil rights–would not have come to this pass if media had done its job. Just its job of reporting facts–nothing more, nothing less.

But, Indian media–most of it–works like just an extension of the government, a vehicle for its propaganda. There are only a handful of mainstream publications that are still bucking the trend. The Telegraph is one.

Recently, I interviewed R. Rajagopal, the editor of the Calcutta-headquartered English daily, for Kochipost, an online magazine I have been writing for lately. My conversation with the warm and unassuming Raja, as he is called at his workplace, turned out to be one of my career-best interviews. The story was shared widely on social media; I am particularly chuffed that even Ravish Kumar shared it on Facebook.

I took this chance–after all you don’t get to interview The Telegraph boss just like that– to ask him a wide range of questions, even the most uncomfortable ones. Rajagopal answered each of them patiently, spoking his mind without mincing any words. We owe it to people like him for keeping journalism alive in our country, for showing us hope.

Click here to read the interview in which he tells me about journalism in the times of Babul Supriyo, The Telegraph’s front pages and, yes, the “Aunty-National” headline, why Kolkata is like Kerala and why you should not, or rather should, become a journalist.