No Cowboys, Only Indians – Stars, funny stories and some music…

December 2 2015

Three well-known British journalists of Indian origin set to spill the beans (and probably someone else’s wine and beer)…

JOURNALISTS ‘telling tales’ is how the popular imagination often frames many from what is regarded as a less than noble trade.

But three journalists of considerable wit, charm and integrity (no bias here) are about to hit the road and lift the lid on life covering the good, bad and the ugly – and are inviting you to come along and hear them in a show called “No Cowboys, only Indians” with the profits going to charity.

Known as “The Brown Three Degrees” and individually as ‘The Commander’ – Mihir Bose; ‘The Brigadier’ – Shekhar Bhatia; and ‘The Sepoy’ – Vivek Chaudhary, the trio are appearing on stage from Saturday (December 5) at the Courtyard in Shoreditch, London.

The three have also been dubbed the ‘BBC of journalism’ and are promising an evening of “journalistic jazzmatazz and music”.

Last year, Bhatia was presented with the Journalist of the Year Award at the Asian Media Awards.

“We just had the idea about 15 years ago when we were all covering the Olympics. We thought how did three Indian guys come to be doing this? It grew out of that…” said Bhatia to www.asianculturevulture.com from the US, where he is currently based.

The three have an amazing wealth of experience – Bhatia has covered many major news events as well and been in the thick of the journalistic action.

Bose and former colleague Jeff Randall were the first journalists to break the football bung scandals of 1990s and Chaudhary became a journalistic icon, as one of a new breed to make it to the top of a national newspaper sports desk some years ago.

They have battled with former Manchester United supremo Alex Ferguson, lunched with Nelson Mandela and been praised as a ‘brother’ by none other than boxer Muhammad Ali, still perhaps the greatest sports personality of all-time.

“It will be about the people we have met and interviewed – like Princess Diana,” revealed Bhatia. “We have about 100 years on Fleet Street and about 160 on life.”

Shekhar Bhatia, Mihir Bose and Vivek Chaudhary

He said part of the motivation too was to encourage a new generation to come into journalism, whether it be in print or broadcasting.

“It’s great career if you’re prepared to work hard, be determined and have stamina,” Bhatia said as he was about to catch an internal flight in the US last week. “It should be an interesting evening.”

On each performance, a different media personality will act as a compere and introduce ‘The Brown Three Degrees’.

On Sunday (December 6), author and actor Meera Syal (Bhatia’s ex-wife) will be doing the honours, while broadcaster and writer Yasmeen Khan from BBC Radio, will carry out the same duties the following evening.

Talented pianist Lola Perrin will chip in with piano accompaniment, having survived tutoring Ed Balls on how to play the piano.

Bhatia’s daughter Milli, who is carving out a career in the theatre as a director, has also helped with the production.

The three are very much like the elder statesmen of print journalism.

Bhatia is currently senior US reporter for the Daily Mail online and has been both entertainment and night editor on the Daily Express.
Bose is freelance but continues to interview global sports personalities for the Evening Standard among others and is a frequent broadcaster on wider affairs. He started out his life on Fleet Street as a football reporter, covering the turbulent and sometimes violent 1980s in England, for The Sunday Times. He was also the first overall editor of sport for the BBC.
Chaudhary is a correspondent for ESPN but was one of the first non-white journalists to break through onto a national sports desk and rose to become chief sports correspondent for The Guardian.

The profits will be donated to UK Alzheimer’s Society.

Listing

‘No Cowboys, Only Indians’ – from Saturday (5) to Tuesday (8) 7.30pm at The Courtyard, Bowling Green Walk, 40 Pitfield Street, London N1 6EU
More info: http://www.thecourtyard.org.uk/whatson/632/no-cowboys-only-indians
*Tickets available for Saturday (5) – Tuesday (8) HERE

Related previously: Under Theatre Lights – Mihir Bose