He was one of India’s spin foursome that took the cricketing world by storm. While Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was a freak, Erapalli Anantrao Prasanna was enticing; Srinivas Vekataraghavan was the supplement to the trio where Bishan Singh Bedi was known for his accuracy.

In his international career spanning 13 years, Bedi played in 67 Tests and led the Indian team in a third of them. Although Bedi started his cricketing career quite late, he finished with 1564 first class wickets which remains an India record. While Bapu Nadkarni holds the world record for bowling 131 balls against England without conceding a run; Bedi’s 16.35 maiden overs per Test is only second best to the West Indian, Lance Gibbs whose record stands at 16.62.

In the inaugural World Cup in 1975, where the matches were of 60 overs each and each bowler could bowl a maximum of 12 overs, Bedi created a record that will perhaps never be equalled. Playing against East Africa, he claimed one wicket at the expense of just six runs as eight of his twelve overs were maiden.

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As the country gets ready to celebrate Teachers’ Day on September 5, hoping that schools in many States will reopen in early September, we at The Teenager Today (formerly The Teenager) are mourning the loss of a very special teacher, and the “first” editor of the magazine, Fr Mark Fonseca, who took over the reins of the one-year old periodical from its founding editors, J. Maurus and Aloysius Rego. He left us for his eternal reward on August 2, 2020.

Besides being editor of The Teenager for two terms, he taught many of us to speak the English language the way the British speak, with special emphasis on correct pronunciation and grammar. He taught me early lessons in journalism, and literally made me write short articles which he published regularly in The Teenager of those years, giving me the confidence to write for other periodicals, as well.

Born at Kandivli, North Mumbai, he did his early studies at St Andrew’s High School, Bandra, and then joined St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, graduating from there in 1953. Keenly interested in reading, Fonseca frequently visited the Examiner Press Bookshop, not far from the College. Regular visits to this premier Book Centre, and proximity to the variety of books he read there, gradually led him to join ST PAULS, the Institute that owned the Centre.

After the initial training and study of languages in Mumbai and Allahabad, he was sent to Italy for further studies at the completion of which he returned to India and was appointed the Editor of The Teenager, in Allahabad (U.P.), founded there a year ago in November 1963.

After nearly six years, he went to Los Angeles (U.S.A.) to do his post-graduate studies in Mass Communication. His studies completed, and returning to India, he was appointed Director of the Correspondence Course in Journalism at the Regional Communication Centre, AMRUTHAVANI, at Hyderabad. After a term of three years there, he came back to Allahabad to take up the responsibility of the Editor of The Teenager, a second time.

After a brief stint of services rendered at different places, including Africa, he came back to his native Mumbai, to join the Editorial sector of Better Yourself Books, where at the ripe age of 88, he breathed his last. May his soul rest in peace! We lovingly dedicate this issue of The Teenager Today to Fr Mark Fonseca, teacher, mentor and pioneering editor.

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