Remembering Journalist Vinod Dua, Mallika Dua's "First And Best Friend", On His Death

Journalist Vinod Dua breathed his last on Saturday, his "best friend" and daughter Mallika Dua informed on social media. His passing comes only months after that of his beloved wife, Chinna Dua, who died this year in June following COVID-19 illness. Dua's demise has come as a shock to Indian journalism, over which the 67-year-old reigned for decades with a television career.

In a heartfelt post on Instagram, Mallika looked back on moments spent with her "papaji," as her followers fondly knew him. "A self made, lion-hearted legend who roared in rebellion till his last breath. He feared nothing, least of all death. Thank you for being the BEST dad in the world," she wrote.

She writes further, making a reference to the sedition case against late Dua, which the Supreme Court quashed in a significant order in June this year. The charges against him related to critical comments he made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Even at your weakest, you gave Indian Journalism a landmark judgment," wrote Mallika. "No journalist will be randomly slapped with a sedition case because Vinod Dua fought that fight for them, as he always has."

With a journalism career that began in 1974 with Doordarshan, Dua remained an active participant in the field up until his final months. Most recently, he anchored the show Jan Gan Man Ki Baat for media channel The Wire. His other prominent journalism associations were with NDTV and India Today. More here.

Mallika, who is a standup comic and has appeared in films like Indoo Ki Jawani and Hindi Medium, was close to both her parents, whom she says are "eating chapli kebab" together in heaven. When the duo contracted COVID-19 earlier this year, her efforts to make medical arrangements emerged vividly on social media as she ran pillar to post. Chinna's death following a relentless battle with the virus also came as a blow to the Delhi society and online public, which knew her as the "ultimate people's person."

In an interview prior to her demise, Chinna spoke to SheThePeople about the bond she shared with her husband and family, among other things, talking of the joy with which he spoiled her with the sarees she was known widely for. In months following Chinna's death and his own COVID-19 hospitalisation, Dua's health appeared visibly poor. He was in intensive care in Delhi in his final days.

The couple leaves behind two daughters, including Mallika and Bakul, who practices as a clinical psychologist.

Mallika concluded her post saying, "We will live with pride and gratitude because look at the extraordinary parents we got. I wouldn’t trade my destiny for anything. It gave me Vinod and Chinna. Nobody gets double lucky. Bohot Umda."

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