TRIBUTE
Exactly a month ago, in the morning of September 14, 2017, passed away in New Delhi veteran leader of the print industry Viren Chhabra who has rightly been described as the print industry's “Bhishma Pitamaha”. He worked for 42 years in The Statesman's printing department, a journey that began in 1951 when he joined the institution which was then the leading Indian daily in the Capital. He had just returned from London where he completed a technical diploma course from the London School of Printing (1948 to 1950). He became the General Manager and publisher of The Statesman in due course and played a prominent role in modernising the publication's processing and printing departments.
As has been mentioned in the October 2017 issue of the Indian Printer and Publisher,
Chhabra was the key builder, President, international goodwill ambassador and the permanent guide of the All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP). The founding editor of the association's magazine Printing Times, Chhabra was instrumental in organising the Intergraph World Print Congress in Delhi. In addition, he was the first Managing Director of the US-based print manufacturers association known as NPES in India.
At the General Council Meeting of the AIFMP at Udaipur on June 24-25, 2017, the Federation's President Kamal Chopra announced the institution of the Viren Chhabra Print Leader-ship Award to honour Chhabra's contribution and leadership to the Indian Print Industry. It will carry a citation, a shawl and Rs 1 lakh.
Chhabra, who would have turned 90 this year, was born in Kamalia (Punjab) in 1927. He had been ill for quite some time in recent years but continued to receive visitors and attend important functions.
He is survived by his wife, media veteran Rami Chhabra, daughter Sagari, writer and film-maker, son Ashvin, global investment expert, and three grandchildren.