How I got into journalism

Journalism is one of the many pleasant paths my life has strayed into, away from the main road. Paths that make life so much more interesting.

I was jobless for a month, having run away from my previous job (this is a story that shall also be told, sometime soon). My friend, Gigil, (who then worked in Mid-day and now in Hindustan Times) called to say that Mid-day had a a vacancy. I applied, because I was bored of sitting at home. I was called for the interview. Aakar Patel, the editor of the paper, who went around on a snazzy bike, with a jacket that proclaimed `I am the editor of Mid-day' would interview me.

It went something like this:

I entered his cabin, with a copy of my resume.

FIRST QUESTION:
AP: (After going through my resume and not even glancing at me) What is Oncology?
ME: Sorry?
AP: Your resume says you did a project on Oncolgy.
ME: (straining my memory) Yea...I think its something to do with cancer...But that project was way back in college...I don't remember much of it. (I must have been drunk to mention it in my resume)

SECOND QUESTION:
AP: So, why do you want to be a reporter?

This question, the most obvious, caught me unawares.

ME: Ummm...wellll..I want to be a reporter because...because...I like to report. (Oh god...can i sink into the ground)
AP: Thats exactly my question. Why?
ME: (some more umms and ahs later) Because I don't have any other job, as of now. And Im a fast learner.

(ok swati, you are not getting this job. say thank you and leave)

THIRD QUESTION:
AP: So...you did philosophy...who is your favorite philosopher?
ME: (Gosh not again...I was B-O-R-E-D of this question) Wittgenstein.
AP: Why?
ME: Because he had a log cabin in the interiors of Norway where he would run away to, everytime his in-laws came calling.
AP: (looks at me for the first time, puzzled, I think) ok..can you tell me a little more about his philosophy?
ME: Welll...its too vast..and I don't know where to begin...can we discuss this some other time?
AP: ok.

(its obvious I'm not getting this job, I tell myself, so I might as well enjoy the interview.)


FOURTH QUESTION:
AP: So, why do you want to work with an afternooner rather than a morninger?
ME: Get me a job in either, I dont mind..(I smile)
AP: Good reply.
ME: (huh???)

FIFTH QUESTION:
AP: What was todays major headline?
ME: (aha! i know this answer!!! It is something on business that i don't remember any more, but at that time, i answer well)
AP: Do you understand business?
ME: (here goes my job again..) No.
AP: Me neither (he looks at me empathically)
ME (double huh??)

And then, this is the best part, and the end of the interview:
AP: (looking at my resume again) So, you are a good photographer?
ME: (with supreme confidence) yes.
AP: (calls the city ed, Lajwanti and asks her to bring a camera, hands it to me and says) Ok go take pictures anywhere in the office. I want atleast three good photos.

I leave, and come back immediately.

ME: (again with supreme confidence) Its not working.
AP: Oh! (He examines it and...) It's not working because, for it to work, you have to swith it ON!

I start laughing uncontrollably, but he doesn't join me. I go out to take pictures, but somehow, when I come back, the camera refuses to show them. Im pissed and tell him that Ive always used a manual SLR and not a digital, so Im not used to it. He shakes his head in dissapointment and I leave. Im hired that day itself. He later tells my immediate boss, that he thought me to be honest and extremely bright! HUH???????????????

And so opened the doors of journalism, for a bright, honest girl like me ;)
Btw, that discussion on Wittgenstein's philosophy never happened.