http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Blitz_founder_Karanjia_dead/articleshow/2749918.cms
'Blitz' founder Karanjia dead 2 Feb 2008, 0220 hrs IST,Bachi Karkaria,TNN MUMBAI: The most enduring image of Russy Karanjia was of him at a taut 50, in tight swimming trunks, doing a sirshasana at the Oberoi swimming pool. He did much the same to journalism, and did it as flamboyantly. Free, frank and fearless was the motto of the Blitz which he founded in 1941. India's first weekly tabloid was as feisty as its editor was suave. Russy was a Clark Gable look-alike who wowed women effortlessly, and chased his professional prey unflaggingly. He was branded a Communist by the US because he was such a cheerleader for the socialist Nehru. The others of the non-alignment troika were equally his friends, President Nasser and Marshal Tito. But so was the Shah of Iran; Karanjia's granddaughter, a hip journalist like her glamourous mother Rita who started 'Cine Blitz', is named Faarah. He stood tall in a generation of editorial giants, Frank Moraes, Shyam Lal, Khushwant Singh et al. The banner hoardings at Flora Fountain were an iconic part of the cityscape, blaring the latest expose of the Blitz, among them, the Chester Bowles forgery case, the Mundhra scam, and most sensational of all, the Nanavati crime of passion in which a dashing naval commander shot dead his stunning wife's lover as the playboy lolled smoking in his bath-tub. He started his journalistic life at The Times of India , quickly climbing the ladder with his audacious scoops. As a cub reporter, he sneaked into a top-secret conclave of princes, with the help of his natural elegance and a hired limousine. Karanjia spoke as proudly of his stint as a correspondent during World War II, where he was injured when a landmine blew up his jeep; he was captured by the Japanese, but again manoeuvred his release. However, his own Blitzkrieg quite overshadowed everything that happened before and since. He really did live his never-say-die spirit, pulling himself out of two strokes and an illness which landed him in 2004 for a critical stint in the ICU. He was 92, and the only thing he complained about was that the nurses skirts weren't short enough. The Old Soldier faded away on February 1.
