Playing Journalist

"There is going to be a strike tomorrow. All the medical shops in town will be closed. Go and find out what the public thinks about it," came the orders.

It was my first day at work and luckily I had a classmate with me. So we set out together on our first task, with the camera crew. As we were leaving, we were apologetically told, "Only upmarket people with above average looks." I was surprised. Didn't poor people with average looks have opinions? But these noble thoughts were short-lived.

Hunting for the upmarket crowd meant wandering in upmarket areas, armed with a newly acquired press card. So we decided on a shopping mall. Everyone who walked out possessed a cell phone and they often drove off in fancy cars. So we had finally found the kind of people we were looking for. Now the embarrassing task of asking for their opinion on camera. We decided to take turns. My friend went first and she returned with a young lady. Sadly, however, the lady didn't know about the strike, so she didn't have an opinion. Then I went hunting for a possible speaker. A young man sporting designer labels crossed my path.

"Excuse me, I am from ABC channel."

The man perked up, for here was his chance to get noticed.

"Yes, how can I help?" he smiled.

"Tomorrow the medical shops are going on strike. You must have read about it in the papers. (He nodded. So I continued, thinking he knew what I was talking about). Do you think the government should give into their demands?"

"I am sorry. I am from out of town. So I am not aware of what you are referring to."

I explained and asked for an opinion. He didn't have one.

By now, my friend and I had both become more courageous. So we marched up to people and asked for opinions and we got lucky. Quite a few people gave us intelligent sounding opinions.

After that success, we were both assigned individual stories to work on. I did quite a few stories on: fitness, foreign cuisine, music bands, Halloween parties in town and a blind painter. It was fun. We made quite a few contacts, a couple of friends who were in awe of our press cards, and sometimes we were given free gifts. But despite graduating to feature stories, we continued going around asking people for their opinions.

When Mamta Banerjee threw a tantrum in Calcutta, we would roam the streets of Chennai asking people what they thought about it. Quite a few people had things to say about her. But on the whole, the upmarket lot with above average looks didn't really care about 'Indian Politics.' If it were a question on cricket, we would have no trouble. But if it was about Jayalalitha's court cases, a lot of people refused to comment. Either they were scared, or they didn't know enough to comment. And yes, there was another category of people who were simply camera shy.

So mostly we preferred general questions like, "Describe your best Diwali." Everyone had a special story to tell. But once I had to go around asking mothers if they had trouble monitoring their kids' food habits. Sure it seems simple. But it was embarrassing going around asking women if they had children. One woman was offended as she retorted with a"I am not even married."

Finally, we graduated to doing hardcore political stories. Must confess I didn't like it too much. The Chief Minister's office would send out feelers about a possible press meet at four outside his residence. With increasing competition, each channel would want to be there in front throwing questions. So I was forced to reach the destination at one. The other channels would begin trickling in slowly and before I realised it, it would be four o'clock. We would continue waiting and three hours later, the chief minister would come ambling out, surrounded by his security guards. In a frenzy the cameras would come to life and reporters would throw questions. But before the Chief Minister managed to mouth an inaudible reply, he would be carried away in his bulletproof car. On returning, the next step would be deciphering what the CM said in those few seconds.

Occasionally I was sent across to collect bytes (one liners) from a powerful opposition leader. Didn't mind it, except for the fact that this politician featured in the LTTE hit list. And so I imagined a bomb would explode when I was in the vicinity asking him an intelligent question. It never happened, but the ultra cautious security guards did seem to think I appeared suspicious. So I later put on the façade of a confident reporter.

But I got really lucky during the Rajkumar kidnapping case. My friend was of course luckier, because she set out into the jungle to hunt for Veerappan. Meanwhile I sat around in Chennai making frequent trips from the Chief Minister's residence to the house of Nedumaran, the controversial emissary in a group of four, who had his loyalties with the LTTE. He propagated various theories on Tamil nationalism and during that time, the opposition was against using such a man as an official emissary to talk to Veerappan. So when news came that Nedumaran was all set to venture into the jungle to meet Veerappan, we rushed to his house for an interview. He refused. We waited outside, hoping he would change his mind. All the other channels arrived. Jokes were made about Nedumaran's secretary's child, who was wandering around with a biscuit. We had been waiting there for hours and everyone was hungry. After many more hours, the man walked out. We reporters rushed forward, the cameras came on, and he began to talk. He made a long speech, but the gist of it all was, "I have decided not to go."

"Why did he take so long to decide he wasn't going?" I complained on returning. I told my boss I was tempted to beat up someone with my Mic. He was amused and he said he didn't mind. He would simply tell his boss that the intern had gone mad. Few days later Nedumaran did go into the jungle after much persuasion from Rajkumar's sons and others. So again we went back to standing outside his house.

I had a lot of fun during that internship. I wasn't exactly a great journalist, but I left with a job offer in hand. I was tempted to scream, "Yes," but I had been suitably warned about the forthcoming elections and the budget. So after some thought I decided I would be better at making documentaries. And I did make one. But that is another story.