Yesterday Times of India flashed a news article on paytm’s acquisition of little and nearbuy as part of a distress sale.

The journalist had reached out to me on Sunday evening, asking for my comments.

I declined to comment, adding that his facts were wrong and if he waited for a few days I could share all the information formally and accurately.

I assume he had to file the story nonetheless, so he asked if I could go off the record and talk. I declined that too (PS: there is nothing in this world called off the record! Everything you say is on fucking record!)

When th article came out, I felt let down. I had clearly mentioned that the facts were wrong but all that was stated from my side was that I had refused to comment.

I wanted to understand what the protocol is

So I wrote in (recall: if you don’t ask, the answer is always no)

What could I have done to ensure my stand that the facts were wrong, were also represented in the article

Apparently, there is a simple way to do this

Go on record :)

I hereby go on record to state that I cannot comment on this matter right now, but do wish to share that the facts as stated in the article, are wrong.

in hindsight, this is obvious. Should have thought about it :)

#lessonlearnt