Mohsin - mentor and matchmaker

Anyone who ever worked with Mohsin Ali (photo) will remember, above all, his generosity of spirit. He was a tough competitor against “the opposition”, but a most cooperative colleague and a willing mentor, happy to share his knowledge and experience with junior members of the team. I met him first in Geneva, where I was a young, untrained reporter on my first posting. I learned enormously from seeing him in action.

Mohsin would arrive, as diplomatic correspondent, with a team from London to cover a major international conference, on disarmament or Indochina. He knew everybody, he inspired trust and he shared his contacts. His collaborative style of working was a revelation. At key moments, he would gather all available hands around his typewriter, type his story in short bursts, declaiming each sentence aloud for approval, and then insist on putting all our initials at the end of the story.

For me, Mohsin was a mentor in journalism, but also much more: poetry, music and the art of living. He was always excellent company. In addition, he played a crucial part in my own family history. At the end of one of those great conferences in Geneva, celebrating another successful outcome, for Reuters at least, Mohsin organised a small dinner party. One of the guests was a young student interpreter named Marie-Hélène. Five years later, in Paris, we were married. It might have been a whirlwind romance but Reuters sent me away in the meantime to Africa and then to Vietnam. As Mohsin said many years later, at least we got the story right in the end.

As a result, Mohsin and Dolores, whom we also met at that time in Geneva, remained lifelong friends. We are so pleased that we were able to visit them in North Carolina last June. It was good to see them living peacefully amid what Mohsin always called the serene pines of Dolores’ home state.

For the first time, Mohsin spoke at length of his own princely upbringing in the foothills of the Himalayas in north India. He recalled with particular affection the education he had received at the renowned Doon School in Dehradun. He showed us with pride the photograph of a monument erected there to himself and two other gifted scholars, entitled “The Three Debaters”. A great debater, indeed, always combining serious opinions with a mischievous sense of humour. ■