Going to Indian Express
26th May'10
I have been going to the Indian Express from last tuesday, thereby completing 8 days in the office including 3 days of holidays. The job on the first day seemed to be very exciting as on day one I was opportunist to meet the Finance Minister of India. For an outsider, what could had been more more fascinating?? I was boasting of my achievement to every person, who showed even the slightest interest in asking how I felt at IE. But is it that big an event from a journalist point of view??
Let me define Journalism : It is a profession required to update the citizens of the country of the ongoing happenings in the country and abroad in all spheres. And how journalists do it?? They do it by conversing with key officials in their beat and covering news by reporting. And here's is the key which entitles them to built contact in their area. My getting the chance to meet the FM was one such routine event for them, and a special event for me.
How about the later days?? It is all left to me to figure out myself. Either I continue to be in the same aura or choose to be more realistic and take up the job of reporting in regular fashion. Coming from a hard core academic background with a rigorous syllabus pattern, this truth was hard for me to understand then. As a result, I am daily bored to the extent that I came to the belief that fuck off this internship. To the extent that, i have started believing, being at home and watching movie would have been better job than this internship.
I continue to be bored. How could I think of revolutionizing the IE in mere 8 days of joining, when the regular employees have not succeeded in years. I guess, the best i can make out in the remaining days is to interact with as many people there in different sections, learn about the natuire of the job, and figure out what have motivated and glued them to this profession. I guess be cool, enjoy intern, work 6hours, have time for yourself, identify a beat and cover it.
When the government has so many ministries to different portfolios with n numbers of employees in each, thimking that i will know the ins and outxs of all in mere 20 days that too with no prior info. would certainly confer me with Nobel rather than a mere certificate by IE :P:P
Patience is needed everywhere and creativity takes time. Had it been such an easy task then then every third person would had been a journalist.
1st June'10
Indeed, Patience is the keyword. My previous bursting out helped me a lot in regaining my wisdom. Now, I guess I have learnt the rules of the game:) I have lowered my expectations. I no more go to the office early. I have started reaching there at 1-2p.m. and leave the office whatever time after 7p.m. I feel like. I kind of exploit the resources here, make all phone calls through the office number, take print outs and other similar stuffs.
What in turn I realise is that after adopting these strategies, I improvised on my productivity. Now, I have a byline story, 2 regular routine copies, 1-2 area watch is due, one interview will be coming this weekend and even now I stand a chance of getting an anchor story published in Financial Express. Had I still been impatient, I would probably ended up having at max 2-3 stories. But, I guess it's a lot more than getting mere stories in newspaper. It is about understanding whether this kind of work interests me, and do I really intend to carry it forward in future?
And the answer is YES. I am ready to join newpaper or media broadly as an edit team, analyst and certainly not as a reporter. I don't mean to say that reporting is boring, all I am saying that I am more competant in opinion kind of writing.
Time taking is an integral part of any new learning activity and one should be very patient to avoid making nasty decisions then. Giving more time, bring out the true picture of the thing and more than that weigh your real inclination towards it. So always explore and use experienced advice before forming notions about any job.
