1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,800 Good afternoon. 2 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:19,400 Welcome to episode 3 of My First Job, the podcast. 3 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:25,920 Today we are speaking to Lalitha Iyer, who was principal correspondent at The Week magazine 4 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,180 and has had a long stint at eNadu. 5 00:00:29,180 --> 00:00:34,180 She has written about everything from beauty to politics to wellness. 6 00:00:34,180 --> 00:00:37,400 My name is Venu Gopal Nair and I am the host. 7 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:45,760 I am also CEO of Ideascape Communications, an agency into branding, advertising and design. 8 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:50,200 Journalism is not just about great writing or bringing a story alive. 9 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:55,320 It's about being able to walk into difficult situations, keep your cool and get people 10 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,000 to talk. 11 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:02,520 Journalists need to win their confidence and in a world where misinformation is rampant, 12 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:07,640 have respect for the truth and leave it to the reader or viewer to make their decisions. 13 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:14,000 A career in journalism isn't easy, but it can be exciting and rewarding in ways that 14 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,360 you cannot fathom at the beginning. 15 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:21,600 Lalitha also speaks about young people looking to break into the profession today need to 16 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,160 do and what not to do. 17 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,240 Over to Lalitha. 18 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,920 It's ironic that now I like to be a reporter and I think I'm on the wrong side of the 19 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:31,920 mic. 20 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,520 I'm feeling a little uncomfortable and never been on this side of the mic. 21 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:40,440 But having said that, the Times of India experience was fantastic in the sense everyone's very 22 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,560 kind, extremely, you know, gentle and so on. 23 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:54,520 But they sent me on some foreign beat about some South Asian nation talk or some such. 24 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:59,440 I didn't understand a word of it and that time I was way too fresh in it. 25 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,160 I didn't know I had to do homework. 26 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,360 So I was kind of lost and out of it. 27 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,160 And the next next reporting assignment was a cricket match. 28 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,680 And I never really I'm not really fond of cricket. 29 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:12,660 Many people hate me for it. 30 00:02:12,660 --> 00:02:17,280 So these two assignments really kind of, you know, gave me a feeling that I might not be 31 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:18,280 good at it. 32 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:24,080 And I continue to do little assignments, but I was not very happy. 33 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:29,200 When I went on the test, I got my first headline, you know, there were little claps and things 34 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:30,200 like that. 35 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:31,200 So that encouraged me. 36 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:32,200 Okay. 37 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:33,200 Then let's go back to school. 38 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:38,080 And what are the various things, career options that you considered or college at that point? 39 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:44,200 You know, there was really not too much because those days if I, if you did MA literature, 40 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:51,240 it was either you become a lecturer and, you know, get into journalism was never an option 41 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:52,240 really. 42 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,240 You become a lecturer because I had a cousin who was a lecturer. 43 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:56,240 She was quite the idol. 44 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:01,000 The other was my mother wanted me to join the bank for various other reasons. 45 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,360 And but I never appeared for the exam. 46 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:07,640 So till quite some time, she really accepted the fact that journalism was a field. 47 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:08,640 She says you should have joined the bank. 48 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:09,640 Why did you join journalism? 49 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:10,640 But yeah, but those were exciting times. 50 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:17,640 There are always things that parents themselves want to do and hope that children will learn 51 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:18,640 from them. 52 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:19,640 Seriously, seriously. 53 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:23,680 My mom was a teacher though, so she would have maybe liked me be a lecturer. 54 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:29,560 But after the times of India, still it, all other options just kind of naturally turned 55 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,160 off and I turned towards journalism. 56 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,720 In school and college? 57 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,120 I was a very good, I mean, extremely good student. 58 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:43,040 So yes, for, I mean, you have to write papers for MA and stuff like that. 59 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:48,120 Teachers would look up to me for presentations and you know, things like that. 60 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:56,640 I stood third in the university, which is not saying much, but I was a writer, but I 61 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:01,160 used to write poetry as a little hobby or something, but nothing great. 62 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,720 I mean, I would have never ever imagined me getting into journalism. 63 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:05,720 Never. 64 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:06,720 Yeah. 65 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:07,720 I think that's a little hang. 66 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:13,400 I did my stint in Times of India and then I decided to go to Bombay to do a film course, 67 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,920 which was an evening course at Sansevier's College. 68 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:16,920 Film course. 69 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,720 And you wouldn't believe it. 70 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,440 I wanted to do animation. 71 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,120 That was another favorite because I liked Tom and Jerry. 72 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,160 So I thought animation was the way out. 73 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,160 I could watch it every day and how stupid I was. 74 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,600 But I applied for a couple of universities, didn't get it. 75 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,680 Then I went to do this film course, which was an evening course. 76 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:42,760 Now I had to pay, you know, for the hostilities like that and there was no money. 77 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:44,040 I had just paid the fee. 78 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,080 So at that time there was this offer for working at Body and Beauty Care. 79 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,880 I don't know if you guys remember it, but this was the upside down magazine. 80 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:53,880 Dr. Padam Singh V. 81 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:54,880 I remember the upside down magazine thing. 82 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:55,880 Upside down. 83 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:00,880 Your body would be this side and when you turned, beauty would be on the other side. 84 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:01,880 So all stopped. 85 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:02,880 What is the logic there? 86 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:03,880 He just thought it was unique. 87 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:04,880 It did very well for some time. 88 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:05,880 Sheer curiosity value. 89 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:06,880 I did a lot of good work. 90 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:07,880 I mean, a lot of interviews, a lot of good work. 91 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:08,880 I didn't know a thing about beauty, but I did a lot of good work. 92 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:09,880 I did a lot of good work. 93 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:10,880 I mean, a lot of interviews, a lot of good work. 94 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:11,880 I didn't know a thing about beauty, but I did a lot of good work. 95 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:16,280 I didn't know a thing about beauty, but it was interesting and didn't know a thing about 96 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:22,680 medicine, but you kind of met people and you know, then you realize journalism is all about 97 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,960 homework and getting to like the subject as you go. 98 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:30,120 If you are, you know, good enough, you do your homework when you are meeting a good 99 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,960 doctor, you need to know what neurosurgery is about and then you go and talk to him. 100 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,280 So that was learnt on the job that when… 101 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:38,200 So how would you prepare for these interviews? 102 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:43,240 For any, even till for the week magazine, if I had to interview a business person, I 103 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:50,080 would read up everything that was, everything and then write out my questions and talk to 104 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:54,640 a couple of people if I knew them and that was homework. 105 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,320 So what did you find had changed about the interviews? 106 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,040 Was it easier to get people to talk? 107 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,880 See, I'm this side of the mic, but honestly, if I had interviewed you, you would have loved 108 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:05,880 it. 109 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,840 I am very comfortable talking and that is a requirement. 110 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:17,280 The requirement of a good journalist is to be friendly, to be able to listen even as 111 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:22,440 you ask questions and you know, button, I use the word very little, button at the right 112 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:27,320 time and you know, get back to the person so that you get insights. 113 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,640 And then how would you translate this into a report later? 114 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:35,480 Let's say you want to write an article, you make notes, there is a process. 115 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:40,040 But I think there is always this whole thing of I make a note, I remember parts of the 116 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:46,600 conversation, but getting all that together in a form that flows is a job. 117 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:52,280 I think most journalists, if you talk to them, they will say, it's the intro, the first few 118 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:58,800 lines that you need, the moment that falls into place, everything else falls in and typically 119 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,240 in an interview, you would introduce the person. 120 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,400 So it depends on how well you know the person. 121 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:08,560 Whereas if it's a report, it is, you know, political report, it would be something else. 122 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:13,040 You talk about the politics of the region, even a nationalism, you talk about a little 123 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:14,360 bit about history. 124 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:19,880 So given the situation, you change your intro, but the first few lines and you're on it because 125 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:21,680 you've done enough work already. 126 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:22,680 Okay. 127 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,360 One of the problems that I've found is that people who get into a job don't know what 128 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,160 they're letting themselves in for. 129 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:29,160 Yes. 130 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:33,000 They, you know, they learn on the job, but to a large extent, they are unaware of what 131 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,680 they're going to be walking into or what the early stages of the job will be. 132 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,720 Your experience will be invaluable on that. 133 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,040 So okay, you finish the interview, come back and then you start writing. 134 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:44,640 So how long would this process take? 135 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:49,760 No, no, typically, oh, if you're in a newspaper, it is like, you don't even get an hour depending 136 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:50,760 on when you finish it. 137 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:51,760 Right. 138 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:56,080 If you are for a week, for a person who was for 23 years in the week magazine, it, mine 139 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:01,960 was a relaxed job because I could finish reporting and send the report after 48 hours. 140 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,360 And then they carry the story after three weeks, so I could work on it. 141 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,840 So that was not any, but if you're a newspaper person, your report has to be immediate, almost 142 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:10,840 practically. 143 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,120 If there is a press conference happening at 5.30, sometimes there's an embargo, but sometimes 144 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:16,840 they say report it immediately. 145 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,120 So you would have to do it within, if you have to go for the first edition, it would 146 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,840 have been, it should be closed by 8 p.m. 147 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,560 If it is the second edition, then you're allowed till 11 p.m. and so on. 148 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:33,480 It is a knack to write a report, it is because you're already prepared when you're on the 149 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:35,440 job, you're preparing your intro. 150 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:40,200 Then, and of course, you discuss with the other colleagues and say, hey, shall I take, 151 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,200 shall we all take this? 152 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,400 You really don't want to go wrong there, right? 153 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,440 Because all the other newspapers are taking another lead and you go on and on. 154 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,320 So there is a lot of friendship happening there and you kind of say, we'll take the 155 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:51,400 same lead. 156 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:56,000 And then it depends on how well you report it, whether your report stands up or the others. 157 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,240 So there are, by and large, it's much discussed. 158 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:00,240 Okay. 159 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,920 That is, but now after television has come, there are a lot of people looking to that 160 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,280 and think there's immediate publicity, there's immediate thing happening or you become very 161 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:10,280 popular. 162 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,140 We didn't have this, we had print. 163 00:09:12,140 --> 00:09:14,040 So there was a lot of mulling around. 164 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:19,240 Now it is, you know, visual, you can see the person, you can, you know, take a lead on 165 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,560 that and you say, okay, if I come on stage like this, I'll become popular. 166 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:27,720 So there is a lot to think about that in terms of coverage. 167 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:28,720 Yeah. 168 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:29,720 Yeah. 169 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,480 So you've actually spanned three massive changes. 170 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:37,920 You started from press, you saw the change into television and from television into digital. 171 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:38,920 Yes. 172 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:39,920 Right. 173 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:41,120 So working in a, okay. 174 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,640 So why don't we go this at this step by step? 175 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,000 Then you used news time. 176 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:49,320 What is the next, you started working at an Enadu system publication. 177 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:50,320 Yeah. 178 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,320 System publication, news time for five years. 179 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:57,600 I was, even as a, but here I must tell you a couple of anecdotes because it's very exciting 180 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:58,600 times then. 181 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,840 I was working on the magazine section, which would come every Sunday and I had a lot of 182 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:07,840 people reporting for me and I had a little column called Lolly VD column. 183 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:12,680 I would write a little column for kids on a comic page, extremely popular. 184 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:16,080 Everybody really got extremely envious because a lot of letters were coming in. 185 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:22,000 Then one point day when someone said, oh, but Lalitha, you know, you're not on the mainstream. 186 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,160 So I went to the boss and said, put me mainstream. 187 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:25,160 So he made me business. 188 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,040 He asked me to write some business. 189 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,080 Then everyone said, oh, but you're on the business side. 190 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:31,080 You said not me, right? 191 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,920 You're not covering politics. 192 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:37,000 So I went and told him, boss, I need to do politics because I'm sick and tired. 193 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:38,000 You wouldn't believe it. 194 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:39,560 It was election time. 195 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,240 I was standing there 5.30, I went and complained to him. 196 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:43,760 6.30, he said, book your ticket. 197 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,200 You're going to Patna to cover Vihar politics. 198 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,160 And I was like, oh my God, seriously? 199 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:55,040 I was shocked beyond wits, but I had a fantastic time covering it. 200 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:00,200 And I had a coup because I could do Laliprasad Yadav and it was carried in a very big way 201 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:01,200 on the op-ed page. 202 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,360 So I had a lot of stories then and stuff like that. 203 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:10,800 So what is it like actually being, you know, at the questioning end of these extremely 204 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,940 popular politicians? 205 00:11:12,940 --> 00:11:14,840 Quite often, very nice. 206 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:16,400 Most often, in fact. 207 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,320 And incidentally, I was Chandrababu Naidu, one of the persons who got appointments quite 208 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:22,320 often. 209 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:27,160 But including him, election time when they are campaigning, if you're not on the campaign 210 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,320 with them, they can make you wait long. 211 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:34,320 So I did an interview with him at 3 a.m. in the morning once and I was waiting in an AC 212 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,540 comforter, you know, dinner and coffee and stuff like that. 213 00:11:37,540 --> 00:11:38,540 They make you wait. 214 00:11:38,540 --> 00:11:40,640 They make you wait a lot. 215 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,060 And this is where you learn your patience. 216 00:11:43,060 --> 00:11:49,040 And if you think you're getting a scoop or if the interview is very important, you wait. 217 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:53,800 But for a daily reporter, that's, you know, it depends if he needs to get the interview 218 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:54,800 or not. 219 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,960 So depending on if you're working for a newspaper or for a magazine, you decide. 220 00:11:58,960 --> 00:11:59,960 Okay. 221 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:03,200 But by and large, politicians are nice. 222 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:04,200 They are not. 223 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:05,200 They have not been. 224 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:06,200 Right. 225 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,200 And I've heard this from somebody who used to work at Business India saying that far 226 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:12,960 better than advertising. 227 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:20,160 I think politicians are great communicators because they are amazingly good at explaining 228 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:21,160 things. 229 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,520 They are very good at simplifying things. 230 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:25,920 You can also say that they are very good at manipulating. 231 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,820 But then the whole point is that they've got a point of view. 232 00:12:28,820 --> 00:12:34,280 But have you found that it's true across most politicians that you met that they are very 233 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,760 clear about their concepts? 234 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,560 They Yes, they are because they want your vote. 235 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:40,560 Right. 236 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:44,840 Whether you are, you know, an English journalist or not. 237 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:49,000 But having said that, again, I'm bringing back Chandrababu Naidu. 238 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,880 Thanks to Babu, thanks to Naidu, politics became savvy. 239 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,880 They understood what was local coverage and what was national coverage. 240 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:02,160 So when they spoke with us, they spoke with a little more difference because they knew 241 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:03,800 the audience was wider. 242 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:05,960 Earlier, that was not there. 243 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:06,960 Right. 244 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,520 But they were quite localized and they would probably not talk English. 245 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,160 They would speak the local language and stuff like that. 246 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:19,800 But somehow I have a feeling that Naidu has changed a little in terms of political aspects. 247 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:26,000 So and in terms of, you know, news awareness also, they began to realize. 248 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,080 Television also coming full force at that time. 249 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,540 So they began to realize that local news is something else and this was. 250 00:13:32,540 --> 00:13:38,540 So when you're talking to a seasoned politician who's been in Delhi for some time, he is 251 00:13:38,540 --> 00:13:41,680 extremely, he will speak extremely well with you. 252 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:46,520 You know, totally take you astray from the question you asked him, but still speak so 253 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:47,520 well. 254 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:49,520 So you kind of have to bring it back. 255 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:50,520 Yeah. 256 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:54,320 Sometimes you don't even realize they counter you or taking you in the other direction. 257 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:58,760 Yeah, take me somewhere else and then you have to tell him, sorry, but you know, come 258 00:13:58,760 --> 00:13:59,760 back. 259 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:00,760 Okay. 260 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:02,720 So you have to be a little on a one on one level. 261 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:07,000 Sometimes at a press conference, you know, you get enough information from the questions 262 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:08,000 being asked. 263 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:09,000 So you kind of cover that. 264 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,000 So. 265 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,960 But were you at any point thinking, like you said, okay, you've gotten into journalism. 266 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,000 It had already been five, six years since you spent. 267 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:18,000 Yeah. 268 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:22,080 Did you ever have any thoughts about saying, should I explore something else which is related 269 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,240 to writing or life was so interesting that you didn't really have the time to? 270 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:27,240 Absolutely. 271 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:32,360 Life was too interesting and I got an offer, two offers for television, but I was, because 272 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:39,480 somehow you, I relish the fact that I can work on a story rather than, much though it's 273 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:46,040 nice and for immediacy, I prefer to really do a little sit back on it, dwell upon and 274 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:47,040 write. 275 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,240 And so I prefer to print you. 276 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:54,000 Now people might call it a bit lazy, but it wasn't, you know, it was just that you could 277 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:55,280 add that much. 278 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:02,360 And so I refused the TV jobs and now fairly late in life, I think of films. 279 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:03,360 Now. 280 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,960 No, but it's great that you're still looking at this whole thing and saying, okay, there 281 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,680 are new dimensions that you'd like to explore. 282 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:10,680 Yes. 283 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:11,680 Yeah. 284 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,280 You've obviously seen whole new generations of reporters come in. 285 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,880 So one of the things which you mentioned early on is that the newcomers probably want to 286 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:20,560 be on TV much earlier. 287 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:26,240 And they understand that TV can be a ticket to far better visibility, possibly career 288 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,320 advancement early on. 289 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:33,720 But what do you think are things that they need to develop once they're in the business? 290 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:40,560 I think ultimately, even in journalism, in as in any other, it's hard work, right? 291 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:42,240 You have to be at it. 292 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:49,240 And quite often local media, in regional media, especially when a woman comes into journalism 293 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:54,320 or something, she's sent to women and child welfare invariably for some reason, right? 294 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,960 The woman, I just tell girls, take it up. 295 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,640 You can do some phenomenally interesting stories. 296 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:05,680 And it's over a period of time that these kinds of stories have really hit, you know, 297 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:06,680 hit home. 298 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,000 And the people, they're like Better India and a couple of other people who are focusing 299 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,000 on these kinds of stories. 300 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,320 So there is journalism out there, which talks of developmental studies, which talks of women, 301 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:19,360 which talks of welfare, welfare issues and things like that. 302 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:26,600 Like I said, every young girl or boy, they think politics is, is it when you talk of 303 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,560 journalism, they think they need to do politics. 304 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:34,280 Whereas I think politics, you know, the guy moves away after five years, and he'll make 305 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,000 some stupid policy decision doesn't matter. 306 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:42,080 You need to be where, where people are happy, where people have had an impact, somebody 307 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:43,800 else has done some work. 308 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:49,220 So there's a lot of, lot of, of course, many people will differ with me on this. 309 00:16:49,220 --> 00:16:55,440 But I think when a youngster gets into television, they must think much beyond politics is what 310 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:56,440 I think. 311 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,440 There's a, there's a huge world out there. 312 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,480 There's entertainment, there's development, there's rural welfare, and there is all kinds 313 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,000 of, in our time there was nationalism. 314 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,520 Now unfortunately it's not there. 315 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:12,440 Oops, it's, you know, kind of slowly, I cannot say unfortunate, but it's kind of ebbing. 316 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:16,680 But those are exciting because you knew the police, you knew the Naxals, and you could 317 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,000 cover that and you could give your perspective. 318 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,040 I mean, fantastic, fantastic. 319 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:26,480 So tell me what, what is it like to meet, get two completely different points of view. 320 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,760 For example, when you meet the Naxals and you talk to them, you get one point of view. 321 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:34,480 And then when you talk to the police, you get the exact opposite point of view. 322 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:40,200 So in your mind, how are you reconciling these two truths, but seen from a completely different 323 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:41,200 perspective? 324 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:47,200 You know, at heart, I think all of us, I mean, we are all leftists at a certain level. 325 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:48,200 Okay. 326 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,760 I mean, so deep inside, what the guy is doing is right. 327 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,680 There is a vigilante in all of us, right, at a certain level. 328 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:02,720 But having said that, when you, after you meet the Naxals, you kind of, you know, you, 329 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:06,480 the police, very friendly of course, but they kind of become wary of you. 330 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:11,640 You know, they say, ah, you went and met them, you spent time with them, so, you know, what 331 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,960 is the use, why should we tell you anything. 332 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:19,160 But having said that, in Andhra, there was a lot of activity, proactive kind of towards 333 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:24,640 and so, I mean, YSR did that and therefore, it took this part where, you know, they had 334 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,960 to surrender arms and things like that. 335 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:32,600 But we've had some tremendous people who have done fantastic work with and we've had several 336 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:38,160 activists who've done phenomenal work with Naxals, you know, going to grassroot level. 337 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:43,640 So both the aspects, but depends on you, you never write one story, you write several stories. 338 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,640 So you get the Naxal point of view and then you get the police point of view. 339 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:47,640 Yeah, that's what I was thinking. 340 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:48,640 That's totally where. 341 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:50,560 It's, it's almost as if you get both. 342 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:55,000 You, you talk to doctors, you talk to patients and that is where you see this multiplicity 343 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:56,600 of perspectives. 344 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:01,280 People who tend to be in one job tend to know about one thing because they develop a lot 345 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:03,040 of specialized knowledge. 346 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:04,920 You know about television, you can never get perspective. 347 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:06,760 It's always one sided. 348 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:12,360 It's my feeling unless you, it's, it's, you know, a developing story, then you give perspective. 349 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,320 But in print, you, you can do it. 350 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,600 You can do justice to both the areas of what I'm. 351 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:19,600 Okay. 352 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:25,000 In your mind, where is the change happening in the profession, in your own life? 353 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,280 How do you think things changed as you spent more years in it? 354 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:37,040 I'm, I think during my time or people of my seniority, we traveled to the place. 355 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:38,040 Okay. 356 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:42,240 We traveled to the place, touched the place, smelted and wrote stories. 357 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:44,240 Now that is not a necessity. 358 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,200 And I think that's criminal, that's criminal. 359 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,240 You will never ever get the true aura story. 360 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:50,760 And then never, never the truth. 361 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:54,440 If you don't travel, you will never get what actually happened. 362 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,680 We might have, we, we'll go there after the crime has happened, but you see the area, 363 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,120 you wonder, you think, how did it happen? 364 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:03,480 You know, and you develop a story on that. 365 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:04,920 That is no more an essay. 366 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,960 And I think that's really stepping backwards in time. 367 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:08,960 So how is it handled now? 368 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:09,960 You're the, the travel is cut down. 369 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:14,460 You can call, pandemic especially helped, pandemic helped, right? 370 00:20:14,460 --> 00:20:16,200 You just called people and said, what happened? 371 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:17,200 Tell us. 372 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:18,200 And that's it. 373 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:19,200 Yeah. 374 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:20,200 Which is such a tragedy. 375 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,920 So that's almost like building a story from here, say. 376 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,980 Any, anyone can write, anyone can write. 377 00:20:24,980 --> 00:20:26,640 You don't need to go there. 378 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,560 You don't need to sniff the air and say, how did it happen? 379 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:35,400 We had a very famous police officer who got shot at the junction of the city and the Naxals 380 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,920 escaped, four of them, they had escaped. 381 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,080 Some of us went there and spent three days, you know, how did it happen? 382 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:43,440 How could it ever happen? 383 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:49,960 And then it all kind of fell into, and again, just to say, the Naxals had done their homework. 384 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:54,320 They done recce trips so often that they, they had it packed, right? 385 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:55,320 Whoa. 386 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,840 And this is what we tell the police, that the Naxals do their homework. 387 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,160 You guys don't do and we become enemies. 388 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,880 Plus they have the advantage of surprise because they are planning. 389 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:05,880 Exactly. 390 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:06,880 They planned it. 391 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:07,880 Yeah. 392 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:11,920 And they don't know, whereas the police would not know that this particular thing is happening 393 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:12,920 there. 394 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:13,920 Exactly. 395 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:18,760 One of the changes that Chandrababu Naidu brought about was the way he modified what 396 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:24,000 he said to a local journalist or what he talked about on the national stage versus what he 397 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,520 spoke on the regional stage. 398 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:30,760 I think Hyderabad also focused on infrastructure because it was one of the cities where you 399 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:32,960 began to see a whole lot of change. 400 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:33,960 Okay. 401 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:39,440 All those little stories are like drops that add up to the overall picture of what is changing. 402 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:40,440 Absolutely. 403 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:41,440 Clinton came. 404 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:48,240 The top story when Clinton had come, he invited, you know, inaugurate the place was Clinton 405 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,240 got a license in two hours, right? 406 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:51,240 Okay. 407 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,240 We got him a license and that was high tech. 408 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,720 And we all wrote about it. 409 00:21:54,720 --> 00:22:00,760 But a few of us, it was that Clinton got his own vehicle and he, it was a Humvee. 410 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:06,320 So we all stood at the gate to see the Humvee go and worshipfully looked at the Humvee and 411 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,360 like, Oh, hopefully Clinton would look at us, wave to us and say, come get it. 412 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:11,800 I'll take you for a ride. 413 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:12,800 Never happened. 414 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:13,800 But these are the things. 415 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,160 Babu introduced us to a world perspective. 416 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:22,480 A lot of foreigners came, Bill Clinton came and the Microsoft guy came. 417 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,920 All these people came and we could, we could meet them. 418 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,160 We could talk with them and things, things turned dramatic. 419 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:36,520 And suddenly Andhra was, Hyderabad was at the center of things and we got a lot of attention. 420 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,560 Journalists as journalists, we got a lot of attention nationally. 421 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:41,560 It was no more South India. 422 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:42,560 It was Hyderabad. 423 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:43,560 That happened. 424 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:44,560 Okay. 425 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,360 So what was it like producing magazine? 426 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:48,600 You did for almost five years, you said. 427 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:49,600 Yes. 428 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:50,600 Yes. 429 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,360 So Body and Beauty Care, I worked, did a lot of good work. 430 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:58,840 We came up with a magazine called Body Care and the editor didn't know a thing about what 431 00:22:58,840 --> 00:22:59,840 was happening. 432 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:00,840 She just brought it out. 433 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,360 She said, you'd like to produce it with pleasure. 434 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:07,920 And I had a couple of people to help and I went and got the first copy, right from the 435 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:09,880 print, from the machine. 436 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:15,360 It was a solid black cover and I took it in my hand and all the ink got stuck to my hand, 437 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:16,640 but I loved it. 438 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:18,920 The smell of ink, the first issue. 439 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:23,080 It was like having a new baby in your hands. 440 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,040 It was phenomenal. 441 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:26,880 I can still smell the ink. 442 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,480 Even in Times of India, Times of India then the letterpress. 443 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,360 So you go and stand with a guy and tell him, ye karo, woh karo, you know, those are then 444 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:36,440 those guys are so happy that the person was talking. 445 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,740 And then we had the cut and paste in Newstime. 446 00:23:39,740 --> 00:23:44,440 So I grew from there, you know, software where you can sit on the computer and change it. 447 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:45,680 You can edit it. 448 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:47,400 It continued on page three. 449 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,960 There we'd have to stand and see that it is continued on page here. 450 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,120 You can on the computer itself. 451 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:54,120 So huge improvement there. 452 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:58,480 But of course, once you are a reporter, you're never then you become only a reporter. 453 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:03,640 So since you were on the inside, what did you think were the changes that digital really 454 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:04,640 brought about? 455 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,960 So you had this overnight thing, newspapers you would read the next morning. 456 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,320 Today it's breaking news every five minutes. 457 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,440 It's almost as if by the time the newspaper comes out, all that news has already been 458 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,560 discussed, tweeted. 459 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,840 Yes, everyone's gone online also when we've all gone. 460 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:26,480 No, no, we used to have an online edition where we wrote every at six o'clock in the 461 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,920 whatever is happening during the day, we would have to report if it was very interesting. 462 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:35,640 So we would have to rush to a point, get some story, come back and cover it. 463 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,040 So that was also extremely exciting. 464 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:42,120 And you also had to send them story ideas for online, which wouldn't get carried in 465 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:43,940 the print because that took a week. 466 00:24:43,940 --> 00:24:46,640 So if there was something very interesting, you do it online. 467 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,040 We had we also experienced the immediacy of it. 468 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,040 So we had to come before the newspaper really. 469 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,480 Week magazine, of course, was a week old. 470 00:24:55,480 --> 00:25:00,920 But in this case, we have to come before Deccan Chronicle hit my little basket out there. 471 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:02,600 So we had to do that. 472 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,520 So that was also exciting. 473 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:10,080 But it kind of really jolted you off because you really have to be so quick, so quick. 474 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:17,320 You've been on so many beats, political beauty, naxals. 475 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:21,400 How do you out of these, which are the points that really stand out? 476 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:26,160 Obviously, Chandrababu Naidu's, but from let's say some of the other stories, which are the 477 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,320 ones that you still recall so many years later? 478 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,280 Naxalism because I was among the first women. 479 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:38,200 See this is another thing when because I was in Hyderabad, right, there were only three 480 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,040 women reporters, three women reporters. 481 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,440 I was one among them. 482 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:48,440 So it was it was a unique experience for us to go out there and get story. 483 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,640 All of us were working with papers, but it was different. 484 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,840 And I learned the language on the job. 485 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,280 And now I can speak very fluent Telugu. 486 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:58,640 I learned it on the job. 487 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:04,320 So it was an experience to go there and get a source, translate the thing and, you know, 488 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:05,320 get the work done. 489 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,680 When you're talking to people in their own language, what is it that you're looking for? 490 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:15,880 Are you simply asking them questions based on what the incident is or in your mind, you're 491 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:20,680 trying to get a feel of what their life is like so that that becomes the background texture 492 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:21,680 of the story? 493 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:27,840 Actually, I am among it during my stint in The Week, I did a lot, covered a lot of naxalism. 494 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,280 I covered a lot of Dalit, Dalit text. 495 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:37,520 Andhra was the hub of a lot of, you know, acts against negative acts against Dalit.s 496 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:42,400 And I had a very dear friend who was a Dalit reporter. 497 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,200 And so it became a kind of, you know, we both helped one another. 498 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,000 I could travel wherever I was. 499 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,320 And he had all the experience and the information which we needed. 500 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:53,520 So both of us would cover it. 501 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,680 He'd cover for a newspaper and I'd write for it. 502 00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:00,160 That's something that, you know, like you said, if it can be accomplished on a phone, 503 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:01,920 then people think that, oh, it's fine. 504 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:06,960 Which I think is one of the problems of living in a virtual environment practically all the 505 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:07,960 time. 506 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,240 But I will, I will pack my very positive on that. 507 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,000 I was at the ground. 508 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,000 You're completely at the same. 509 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,120 And my last contacts, currently they're alive. 510 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:20,360 And I traveled. 511 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:24,880 I don't think any other person, any other reporter who was in Hyderabad has ever done 512 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:25,880 so. 513 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:26,880 So I can say that with great pride. 514 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,140 I have traveled a lot, extensively. 515 00:27:29,140 --> 00:27:34,800 So would you say that at some point your family was, I hate to use the word, accommodating 516 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,520 your parents were, you know, they didn't have a point of view on this. 517 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,440 In a way, yes, I didn't, I didn't have children. 518 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:47,640 So that was a huge, huge advantage because schooling and stuff like that was never a 519 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:48,640 problem. 520 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:54,400 I had my parents and I was a bit sick for some time. 521 00:27:54,400 --> 00:28:00,280 But like I said, travel was easy because I cook and go and I had little and then my father 522 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,800 stayed with me for long and he fell ill only towards the end. 523 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,720 And by which time I had, I was not a working job. 524 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,760 I was not reporting as such. 525 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:09,760 I was working. 526 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,020 I was not reporting as such. 527 00:28:11,020 --> 00:28:12,320 So it helped. 528 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,440 In my case, everything fell into place. 529 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:17,640 Seriously, I mean, no complaints at all in that area. 530 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,720 Does being a woman make your perspective different? 531 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:23,760 For example, when you meet Dalit? 532 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:30,400 Yes and no, because we are not looking at a Dalit problem from the at all. 533 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,080 You look at it as a overall issue. 534 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:41,520 And because the more we, I think we are probably that much more sensitive undeniably, but when 535 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:46,120 you are really writing for a newspaper that doesn't come across, it depends on how you 536 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:47,800 present the problem. 537 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:54,000 And probably my story is a slightly more human interest and more human value than others, 538 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:55,000 definitely. 539 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,160 But I do not know if that was because I was or just that I was more interested at the 540 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:01,200 grassroot level with these, therefore. 541 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:02,200 Right. 542 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,200 See a local reporter from that village covering that story would be entirely different from 543 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:10,680 a person who's read a little bit more and goes there and covers the story. 544 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:12,560 I think that is what brought in. 545 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:13,560 Right. 546 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:14,560 You know, your approach. 547 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:19,760 So I think the man was covering that same story, he probably would meet the men, but 548 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:25,400 not necessarily the women from within because of the various social things which are there 549 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:26,400 or that doesn't matter. 550 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,560 I was telling you this person, both helped on his stories. 551 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:32,200 He's written a little book on that. 552 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,600 His stories are superb in local language, sheer poetry. 553 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,960 Unfortunately, we could, our coverage could never be poetry because we were not allowed 554 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,280 to write so long, such long stories. 555 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,000 But it was sheer poetry. 556 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:45,480 He covered it also there. 557 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,080 But there are certain issues like when you cover national, our perspective is entirely 558 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:50,560 different from a male perspective. 559 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:51,560 Definitely. 560 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:52,560 Yeah. 561 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:53,560 Okay. 562 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:54,560 How did you manage your sources? 563 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:59,000 Locating a source or you said you're still in touch with some of them. 564 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,680 So what exactly, how do sources get built? 565 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:07,080 I think that's the larger question and how do you manage them over a career? 566 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:12,240 See basically sources in politics is you kind of keep meeting. 567 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:13,240 Yeah. 568 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:18,360 So here I will tell you the brotherhood is very strong, extremely strong. 569 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:23,160 So if a male journalist goes, arm goes across the shoulder and hey, hey, they're cracking 570 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:27,560 jokes and they're talking and he's on the phone, they get immediate contact. 571 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,800 We have to do that much more hard work. 572 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:34,320 Even with a woman quality, we would have to do that much more hard work than a male quality 573 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:36,400 for some reason. 574 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,720 I would like to say a lot but not as to why that happens. 575 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:45,160 That a woman has to work harder at developing her source, quality and whereas other business 576 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:50,920 sources you might get, you might be able to get one on one, talk to them and doesn't 577 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:51,920 matter. 578 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:56,840 Police also, I managed a few very good sources but very difficult for a woman to cross that 579 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:57,840 barrier. 580 00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:58,840 Breakthrough. 581 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,480 Yeah, cross that barrier, very difficult and it's a lot of hard work. 582 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:08,000 I mean, real, you have to do PR, you know, call them up, how's life, how are you, can 583 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:09,160 I come and visit you? 584 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,400 So I was doing unnecessary visits out of town just to keep in touch with the police so that 585 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:14,400 he would tell me. 586 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,320 We did all this because it was natural times, therefore, because I want to know immediate 587 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:19,800 news about when something happens. 588 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:24,880 Otherwise, I suppose you call them up and I used to know every single, there were 13 589 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,800 districts, I used to know the SP of every single, every single district. 590 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,560 I knew the SP, the DSP, the AC, you name them, I knew them. 591 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:33,560 I know their numbers. 592 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:34,560 Very well connected there. 593 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:35,560 Exactly. 594 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:36,560 Yes. 595 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:37,560 Yeah. 596 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:42,840 Is there a way to differentiate this or this is really a personal judgment? 597 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:46,640 No, no, of course, you could code and an axel is unfortunate. 598 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,800 Again, I use the word no more on the ground. 599 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,560 But yeah, you could differentiate who was an axel and who was not. 600 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:58,960 Again, I had my team, which would, you know, when we went, we went to the genuine person. 601 00:31:58,960 --> 00:31:59,960 Okay. 602 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:04,640 Again, it took a lot of hard work, a lot of looking across over the shoulder, a lot of 603 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,280 secrecy, a lot of phone calls, don't call me now, call me later. 604 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,120 Those days it was, you know, dial your number. 605 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,680 So it was a lot of hard work, but we had a genuine source. 606 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:15,680 Okay. 607 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,040 How did you manage the tensions? 608 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:22,120 Because it was obviously not easy, especially the deadline of catching a story or, you know, 609 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:27,080 getting through to these people, getting them to trust you, figuring out there were points 610 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:28,080 when maybe… 611 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:29,080 Trust was not sad. 612 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,080 Trust was never an issue, Benu. 613 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:31,080 Trust was never an issue. 614 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:38,680 But again, people are genuine when probably here being a woman, and invariably by the 615 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:45,120 way, when you go to any place, rural, any place new, you take the local person. 616 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:50,080 So your rapport with the local is very, and you have to build it up and therefore it happened. 617 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:52,040 But trust was never an issue. 618 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:53,040 Okay. 619 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:54,040 Okay. 620 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:58,760 And then let's say, did you ever have a conflict about a story that, you know, you knew would 621 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:04,440 be great to break, but you either were told that this is off the record and I guess it 622 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,360 must be happening very often. 623 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:07,360 Always. 624 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:08,360 Always. 625 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:09,360 Always. 626 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,560 So the best news never gets published or the worst? 627 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:13,560 Never. 628 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:14,560 Yeah. 629 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:15,560 Believe it. 630 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:16,560 We will find more details and then we will publish it. 631 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:17,560 Always. 632 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,080 And you know, you work on it, you wait for the introduction to come and you're spending 633 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:25,880 hours on end, you don't sleep the night and you think you've got a fantastic intro, the 634 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,680 blighter will put it right at the end of this, what you thought was a brilliant intro would 635 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:31,480 come as a conclusion of the story. 636 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:36,120 But that is the job of, the magazine has to look as the magazine looks. 637 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,840 That's the part of the desk job there. 638 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:39,840 Yeah. 639 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:40,840 But yeah. 640 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,880 So is there a tension between the desk and the reporters? 641 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:44,880 The reporters? 642 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:45,880 Not really. 643 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:46,880 Not with the news magazine. 644 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,880 And even when I was on the desk at news time, we never had it. 645 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:50,880 Okay. 646 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,800 Only thing is the editor would of course check that the news was genuine. 647 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:58,640 If it was breaking news especially, so is the news genuine, go check it out again and 648 00:33:58,640 --> 00:33:59,640 things like that. 649 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,760 But by and large, by and large the desk and they remain together. 650 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:04,760 Okay. 651 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,680 I mean these days they might be complex, those days they were not. 652 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:13,120 The right qualifications of the right temperament for being at the desk versus being a reporter, 653 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,240 how would you divide the two? 654 00:34:15,240 --> 00:34:18,440 The reporters, the reporter always takes his capsules. 655 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:19,840 You can't ever change that. 656 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:24,920 He's like there, you know he'll walk in, sashay in, have a cigarette, those days cigarette 657 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:29,160 and you know and make a big thing and come and look at his story and say why don't you 658 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:30,160 change this. 659 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:33,120 He thinks his capsules are scarce, he, she, right. 660 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:38,040 Whereas the desk person is like, it is the desk person's story which really appears. 661 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:42,680 In the magazine, in the newspaper, in the magazine, in the newspaper probably not too 662 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:46,080 much of a change because the person really is giving last minute. 663 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,240 The English is changed, the grammar is changed. 664 00:34:48,240 --> 00:34:53,800 In a magazine the entire story is, so it is really not your story, your byline is carried 665 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,880 but it is that person who's polished that story. 666 00:34:55,880 --> 00:35:00,720 So there is a huge difference and reporters think they are a class apart. 667 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:03,680 They will not acknowledge the work desk person. 668 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,280 Whereas I think the desk person is like a diamond polish. 669 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,440 He brings the facets of the story. 670 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:10,440 Okay. 671 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:14,040 Is there a spirit of competition, rivalry between publications? 672 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:18,600 You're going after the same story or that is something that is part of the job and everyone 673 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:19,600 accepts it or? 674 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:20,600 Yeah. 675 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,440 If you're on a newspaper, you normally come to the press club after 11 p.m. when you put 676 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:25,920 the story to bed. 677 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:28,600 So you would come and you order your drink and you come and drink. 678 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,000 So there is no, not much of rivalry there. 679 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,600 Unless you're a television person. 680 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,560 Then these days at the press club there is a lot of, you know, there is breaking, but 681 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:39,240 again I said there is a chimeric. 682 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:43,680 I mean they would let you know that something is happening and that there is a break in 683 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:44,680 news. 684 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:45,920 So it happens. 685 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,760 Maybe the national versus local might have a bit of an issue. 686 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,800 But the local journalists all get together and they work at it. 687 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:52,800 Not an issue. 688 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:53,800 Like I said, we all carry a common lead. 689 00:35:53,800 --> 00:36:00,480 I mean you cannot carry another lead and get your, you know, kind of, yeah. 690 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,160 You know, you passed out in arts and then you thought you would be a lecturer. 691 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,360 Today there are journalism colleges, there are courses. 692 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:08,840 Do you think that has made a difference? 693 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,160 There is the Asian College of Journalism. 694 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:12,160 I think the Hindu does it. 695 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,160 Oh, they think they are cats whiskers whiskers. 696 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:20,200 I mean we are and the people are given that kind of, it's like the IIM or the IID. 697 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,760 So the Asian School of Journalism is considered as that. 698 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:27,560 But ultimately if you are on the desk, you are giving a headline. 699 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:30,320 If you are on, if you are a reporter, you are writing reports. 700 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,800 I mean maybe your English is likely better than the rest. 701 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:40,320 But if you really do not have your contacts, do not have your grassroots support, if you 702 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:45,200 do not have enough happening around you, I mean how does it matter, right? 703 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:50,960 I would think, but then I am not from Asian School of Journalism, so I can afford to talk. 704 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:55,120 It's so true that the degree is useful up to the first job. 705 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,120 After that it really depends on what you do. 706 00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:58,120 Ultimately it's your contact. 707 00:36:58,120 --> 00:36:59,120 Nobody asks you. 708 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:00,840 If you want to be a reporter, yes. 709 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:01,840 Yeah, exactly. 710 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:06,880 You know, it's like guys who go and do a course abroad in filmmaking and then come back and 711 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:08,720 say, okay, where did you assist? 712 00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:09,720 What did you do? 713 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:10,720 Yes, precisely. 714 00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:17,320 You know, you see so many more movies, it's about all. 715 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,800 So did you have a mentor? 716 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,240 Do you feel that it's important in a job to have a mentor? 717 00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:24,720 In journalism, no. 718 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:30,720 In any profession, but you obviously are into journalism because you feel that. 719 00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:34,320 Yeah, no, no, and you don't need a mentor or depending. 720 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:37,040 For example, I must tell you this little story. 721 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:42,240 I joined a group called the Pandit Group Publication. 722 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:43,240 It brought out imprint. 723 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:47,600 There are two things I will always feel bad in life that I never worked for the imprint. 724 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:52,640 I think the best magazine, there's Caravan, which is again one of the best produced magazines 725 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:57,040 and there's the Indian Express, which I think is the, you know, honest newspaper. 726 00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:58,760 I never worked in these three. 727 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:03,920 Imprint, I actually applied to imprint, but they didn't have A3 and so therefore I joined 728 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:08,520 there, they were coming out with a new magazine on sound and music and stuff like that. 729 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:13,120 But there was Weed Song Weed and there were like eight girls and they'll always be talking 730 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:17,360 and they'll always be talking and I, that is the one time I was extremely envious that 731 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:19,560 I was not part of a harem, right? 732 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:26,240 I mean like I felt very bad, very, very, but yes, at that time I'm entering hell because 733 00:38:26,240 --> 00:38:31,000 they came out with some phenomenal stories, fantastic great stories and they worked so 734 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:32,000 much at it. 735 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:33,320 They were allowed a lot of freedom. 736 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:38,000 The Weak magazine also allowed, all our editors were our mentors. 737 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,440 I mean we would discuss it with them and you know, break the story and tell them these 738 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:43,000 are the various aspects. 739 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:44,280 They would help us through it. 740 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:48,480 I'm trying to understand how does the editor help you refine the story? 741 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:52,520 In the sense, does he change, he or she change the emphasis? 742 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:57,480 Do they change the order in which the story comes or does he say that certain aspects 743 00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:58,720 of this have not been covered? 744 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:01,240 They would of course on a lot of that. 745 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:02,240 Okay. 746 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:06,080 And there's always this fight, if you're writing from grass root, they're asking you 747 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:07,080 weird questions, right? 748 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:11,760 Because they are sitting somewhere else and they're totally urban and they do not understand 749 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:13,080 where it's coming from. 750 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:18,440 So those kind of little clashes would happen but by and large the person who's editing 751 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:24,480 your story is with you through the story and the person understands you and would polish 752 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:28,280 the story and of course they would like I said change the introduction to conclusion 753 00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:30,320 and bring the conclusion as introduction. 754 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:31,600 That is their privilege. 755 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:38,360 So you would but there are one or two reporters from the magazine whose story was never touched. 756 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:40,020 So that speaks a lot. 757 00:39:40,020 --> 00:39:45,120 So how would you file stories way back when communication was nowhere near as good as 758 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:46,120 especially when you were going in the morning? 759 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:47,120 Oh exciting. 760 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:50,120 I covered a story for, I covered it through phone, through phone. 761 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:52,960 By the way, I was also reporting for Malayalam. 762 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,720 So by phone in a sense you were literally dictating the story? 763 00:39:56,720 --> 00:39:57,720 They were dictating the story. 764 00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:01,840 There was somebody who would take it because we were in the wilderness and there was only 765 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:04,600 one telephone available and I couldn't send the story. 766 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,080 But otherwise we would send the story through the telegraph office. 767 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:11,240 I can't even think about it. 768 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:14,760 Yeah we would go there and type and they would send it. 769 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:19,760 But that happened only for a year or two before we kind of became slightly computer savvy. 770 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,240 All the people in the week magazine had a Mac. 771 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:23,240 I never got used to a Mac. 772 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:24,240 It was always using Word. 773 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:28,840 No and I'm saying that's the other part, practically all the jobs we are talking about 774 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:34,640 today advertising agencies used to send CDs by courier and got into publication. 775 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,360 Most of the change has been for the good? 776 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:37,360 Yeah most. 777 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:44,240 It has been good because no it has been good one and I'm still traveling so I'm not envious 778 00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:49,600 of anybody and no one else is traveling which is seriously the tragedy of this that no one 779 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:52,560 is going out there to cover a story. 780 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:54,440 They are sitting here and writing. 781 00:40:54,440 --> 00:41:00,800 Of course there are correspondence but people are not traveling which is really a big setback. 782 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:04,840 So from what you say I think people who are trying to enter the profession should be doing 783 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:09,880 do a lot of travel into the interior areas, figure out what life is like, figure out if 784 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:13,520 you like doing it and then figure out if you like discomfort. 785 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:18,480 We are used to a lot of comfort these days so getting these stories obviously wasn't 786 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:21,880 a comfortable exercise by any means. 787 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:23,000 Not at all. 788 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:29,880 I once had to travel, climb a mountain and you know I looked at the mountain and said 789 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,160 come on Lalitha I can climb this. 790 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:33,920 Oh it was a bad experience. 791 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:38,880 I huffed and puffed and gave my bag to somebody, my water bottle to somebody and then I kind 792 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,000 of you know grabbed whatever was available and climbed up. 793 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,360 Those are the kind of stories we did and you know when it got published you could see the 794 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:47,440 sweat in it. 795 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:49,520 You could see the work you know in the set. 796 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:54,000 I felt it and then the local journalists or the local people say oh you went there and 797 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:55,000 you did this. 798 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:56,000 It was a nice feeling. 799 00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:01,240 Yeah I think that's the point of authenticity because you give details that only if you 800 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:03,200 are on site you could have made out. 801 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:04,200 That is what I am saying. 802 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:10,680 There is no way that somebody who sort of had a distant view would have actually been 803 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:11,680 in. 804 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:12,680 No way. 805 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:13,680 No way. 806 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:14,680 You cannot. 807 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:15,920 That mountain experience no one can tell it unless you travel. 808 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,440 What about women in journalism? 809 00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:22,720 There are obviously a lot more today than when you started out, but do you think it's 810 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:27,720 still skewed towards males or do you think it's more or less kind of. 811 00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:28,720 No it's not. 812 00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:29,720 It's no more skewed. 813 00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:30,720 No more skewed. 814 00:42:30,720 --> 00:42:31,720 Ok. 815 00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:38,040 And women are right out there, absolutely out there, but like I said there is a here 816 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:43,840 we need to divide between English newspapers and local regional newspapers. 817 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:50,200 The local will not allow so the English newspapers have crossed that way beyond long back. 818 00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:55,080 So we've had a lot more women reporters who've been writing so many so many good stories 819 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:59,520 and they've been doing so much more and Delhi especially way ahead. 820 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:05,040 South kind of took some time, but Delhi and some of the other place Bombay has been there, 821 00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:09,600 but local journalism still kind of a little tad hesitant. 822 00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:10,600 Yeah. 823 00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:11,600 Ok. 824 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:12,600 Wow that's been quite a journey. 825 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:16,840 Where do you see this going out and looking at new things? 826 00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:18,200 What are your interests now? 827 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:19,560 No just about everything. 828 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:24,680 I am I think currently currently I'm still objectivity right. 829 00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:29,600 I write about food, I write about where I went, how I travelled, I write a little blog. 830 00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:34,800 So I mean people read it and they like it and you know some of them I visit temples 831 00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:40,440 so I'll write the journey to the temple and many people I realize appreciate the fact 832 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:45,600 when I point it out where they can get good food and where they can find clean toilets. 833 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:48,600 So that is a positive step. 834 00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:53,440 No those are always the little details that matter. 835 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:57,480 It's one thing to say I watched a lovely sunset, but the sunset happens and then you have to 836 00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:02,040 go back to your hotel, find food and all the other things which are there. 837 00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:08,940 Wonderful so just to kind of summarize I think from the girl who won the debate competition 838 00:44:08,940 --> 00:44:16,320 and started out at the Times of India to a beauty magazine and then met so many doctors 839 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:26,320 and practitioners there to Newsweek, I mean ENADO Newsline and the multiplicity of characters 840 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:33,320 that you've seen on every side of the fence from the politicians to the stars to the Naxals 841 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:34,640 to the police. 842 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:41,040 I think you've got to see a microcosm of the multiple perspectives that happen which I 843 00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:43,280 think is unique to a journalist job. 844 00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:48,120 So that's one thing which I think is you know in most other professions you get to see it 845 00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:52,520 either from your point of view or from the other point of view and if you have a large 846 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:58,440 circle of friends you might get to see a little more perspective, but here it's on the job. 847 00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:03,800 In conclusion is there anything that you would like to tell young people who are looking 848 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:05,800 at getting into this? 849 00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,800 Don't say no to any assignment and work hard. 850 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:09,800 Don't say no to any assignment. 851 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:10,800 There is no, there is no law. 852 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:15,600 There is no I will not cover welfare, I'll only do no. 853 00:45:15,600 --> 00:45:18,960 Every area, every subject has depth. 854 00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:20,360 We can always look. 855 00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:22,120 So don't say no to any subject. 856 00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:28,920 Just you're given an assignment, do it with your heart and hard work pays always. 857 00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:30,480 And you're an example of that. 858 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:34,600 Lalitha Iyer, thank you very much for the time that you've spent. 859 00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:40,800 I think it was really interesting to see how your journey started and how it continues. 860 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:45,360 Here's wishing you continued writing and new explorations in future. 861 00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:46,360 Thank you for being on the show. 862 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:47,360 Entirely my pleasure. 863 00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:48,360 Thank you so much for inviting me. 864 00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:49,360 Thank you very much. 865 00:45:49,360 --> 00:46:03,200 Good afternoon.