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Irreverence !

The first law of Journalism states that a journalist does not get up from his chair for anyone and does not address anyone as ‘Sir’. This was taught to us on the initial day of our joining NDTVmi. Irreverence is a tricky concept and was a topic of discussion with every guest journalist who visited us in the last 2 months. Although I easily understood the concept of irreverence and the need of it, it was the implementation that was difficult.
The work done by us in this past month from journals to presentations to dopesheets was presented in front of everyone and every person’s work was critically analysed by the entire class. Although initially we weren’t really open to criticising someone else’s work, with time we have learnt to call a spade - a spade. Sometimes we do go overboard and cross the line of irreverence and end up being rude, but I guess that is how we’ll learn.
Garima’s dopesheet on ‘Celebrity Endorsements’ triggered off an intense discussion in class and it got me thinking on how certain advertisements are made by retards. The most absurd advertisement that I have ever come across is the one of JK Cement, where a girl comes out of the sea in her swimwear. It just doesn’t connect unless her assets were injected with cement.
Personally, I was having a difficult time walking the middle path of a journalist’s idea of irreverence. Either I would end up showing too much respect which was just short of me grabbing a thali and performing aarti, or being so rude that it would bring David Starkey, the rudest man in Britain close to tears!
Dilip, my batchmate in NDTVmi is from IIT, Kharagpur who gave up a chance to land up a high paying job with an MNC to follow his dream of being with NDTV. I had respect for the guy. As Dilip and I were standing outside the NDTV office in Archana, waiting for a friend, we decided to have a plate of momos from the north-eastern looking vendor who was selling them. Dilip tried to place our order but was unsuccessful as the vendor was thronged by a crowd of people. So my IITian friend thought of a better plan. He walked up to the north-eastern looking girl who was standing right next to the vendor and asked her for a plate of momos. She looked shocked and answered, “I don’t serve momos! I am also a customer!” As Dilip helplessly tried to apologise to the north-eastern girl for mistaking her to be a momo vendor just because she looked north-eastern, I stepped away and acted as if I didn’t know him. It was then that I realised that Dilip was just a regular guy who could screw up just like anybody else.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but my first couple of months in NDTV were spent listening to James Hetfield sing on my iPod “How can I be lost, if I’ve got nowhere to go?” but in the last couple of weeks the fog in my brain started to dissipate a little when we started working with the camera, microphones and editing. There are a number of things that I have learnt in these few months but it is the first law of journalism that I am still grappling with. I know I am not the only one who’s having trouble with it and this was very evident when Dr Roy entered the room for a session with us.
Guess what were his first words? “The first law of Journalism states that a journalist does not get up from his chair for anyone and does not address anyone as ‘Sir’.”

Mind Your Language!

Ever since the release of the movie, “Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year”, I have often been subjected to comments like, “My god! You look just like Ranbir Kapoor in Rocket Singh.” Although amusing at first, it got a little irritating when the number of people who would compare me to a fictional character, increased. So I decided to have a little fun of my own. The next time someone said, “You look like Ranbir Kapoor in Rocket Singh!”, I cockily replied, “Yes, I am the guy with the rocket in my pocket!”
My cockiness came to an abrupt end today when we had a presentation on “Sexual Harassment at Work” by Pradeep Ganpati from NDTV’s HR department. Ofcourse I had an idea about what encompasses sexual harassment but what I was not expecting to hear was that calling someone ‘cute’ can also be interpreted as sexual harassment. Putting up a picture of your favourite model in a swimsuit can also be offensive to people and can make you vulnerable to a charge of sexual harassment. As extreme as this sounds, the chances of it being true in an organisation like NDTV are quite high since my own batch consists forty two people from different cultural background.
Now the question arises if I am willing to risk being charged for a little laughter. I don’t think so! So now when I come across a person who makes that comparison, I just meekly smile and say, “That’s because my father looks like Rishi Kapoor!”

The Transition

I’m standing in front of a mirror in my new apartment in Bhogal looking at the tired but visibly ecstatic face covered with sweat, grease and grime. Today I rode my ‘Royal Enfield Thunderbird’ all the way from Chandigarh to New Delhi covering a total of 280 kilometres. The plethora of feelings through this journey are somewhat similar to the feelings I am experiencing for the journey I am about to embark upon with NDTV for the next one year – apprehension, excitement and exhilaration. As clichéd as this may sound, I feel as though I have ridden my way into becoming a man.

Babu Ji Dheere Chalna

Often in life, one comes across a situation where the need arises to correct an older person from faltering. This can be a tricky situation as the person involved might get offended. I found myself in a similar situation today when I was on my way to New Delhi in the car with my uncle behind the steering wheel speeding at 140 kms/hr. I took out my cell phone and changed the settings to the ‘Aeroplane Mode’. On his enquiry as to why I did that, I replied, “Any faster than this, and the car will take off!” A guffaw later when the speedometer needle returned to 90kms/hr, I knew the message had been well received.