A Free Bird called Simon Barnes

 

COLUMN: Tunnel of Time

By Shevlin Sebastian

Simon Barnes of The Times, London dropped into the Sportsworld office in Calcutta the other day. A thin, intense man, he had flowing shoulder-length blond hair interspersed with a few strands of white hair. He wore a straw hat and big leather boots; it gave him the quintessential image of the foreign traveller. An English version of Indiana Jones.

Simon Barnes is a columnist who dabbles very successfully in anything that comes his way. His style is simple and smooth, like the surface of a laid-back river. He is an itinerant wanderer.

He has travelled over the world, covering major events like the Olympic Games in Seoul, the Wimbledon championships in Britain, the Super Bowl in America and the Nehru Cup in India. He has interviewed people ranging from racing hero Ayrton Senna to sprinter Ben Johnson and boxing god Mike Tyson.

‘A champion in any sport,’ he says, ‘is always an interesting person.’ But perhaps the most endearing quality of Simon Barnes is his affinity and affection for all things Indian. He says that India is a magnificent, strange and quixotic land. He plans to come back again and again.

‘It was a tremendous experience when I experienced Asia for the first time,’ he says. ‘It changed my life.’

His fascination with the continent resulted in him staying four years in Asia based in Hong Kong. He did freelance work and for payment, he asked for air tickets to new places. The result was that he has explored Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India — you name it, he’s been there.

‘It’s a fascinating experience,’ he said, ‘walking through the forests of Malaysia, lying on the beach in Sri Lanka and getting lost in the by-lanes of India.’

At lunch, while sipping a beer, he said, ‘I love to travel. I hate to be bound up in one place. I want to explore the world. And that is why I am a freelancer for The Times. It helps me to move around.’

The talk then turned to the irritated anger of British journalists while on tour in India. It was the turn of colleague Mudar Patherya to vent forth his much-justified anger against the British scribes.

But Simon was sympathetic and quite perceptive. ‘Remember one thing,’ he said. ‘In India, things take a long time to work. It takes almost a day to get a call to London. Remember that English journalists are living in two time frames. One half of his mind is in India while the other half is in London. He is under pressure from his bosses in London to meet deadlines.’

Agreed, but Mudar didn’t let up. He said, ‘Yes, but here in India, the foreign press expect to get top-class treatment but when we go to their country, they treat us so poorly.’

The onslaught was furious and relentless and Barnes did not know what to say. It was also getting a little embarrassing, and with clever British tact, he changed the subject.

‘Let me tell you a story,’ he began. ‘This has got to do with Graham Morris, the photographer. There was a cricket match among the scribes and Graham Morris realised, as he was padding up to bat, that his partner was a certain Mr. Gavaskar. As he walked out to open the batting with the Little Master, Gavaskar turned to him and said, “See Graham, India is a vast country with different cultures and different languages. So when we go out to bat, we decide beforehand in which language to speak when we call for a run.” Gavaskar then paused and said, “I presume you would like to use the English language.”’

Graham Morris was silent for a moment, then he looked up and said, ‘Accha.’

The conversation rolled on, to apartheid in Africa, the present political situation in India, the supple style of R.K. Narayan, but soon it was time for him to leave.

And the most enduring impression that one got of Simon Barnes was his love of freedom. Freedom to be himself, freedom to move around and see new worlds.

There is a familiar saying that goes like this: ‘Man is born free but is everywhere in chains.’ In Simon Barnes’ case, it was clear that the first thing he did after he was born was to take a hacksaw and break the chains around him.

He’s been a free bird ever since.

(Published in Sportsworld, November 15, 1989)

Update on Simon (according to Wikipedia): Simon, 74, was chief sports writer The Times, and wrote a wildlife opinion column in the Saturday edition of the same newspaper. He has written three novels.

In June 2014 Barnes was sacked by The Times after 32 years' employment, the newspaper having informed him it could no longer afford to pay his salary.

Speculation in some sections of the UK media was that the real reason may have been Barnes's outspoken views expressed in his wildlife opinion column.

The column blamed illegal activity by red grouse shooting interests for the continued persecution and near extinction of the hen harrier in England.

Writing on his blog, which he began after leaving The Times in 2014, Barnes wrote: ‘Certainly I have annoyed some powerful people.’