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In 9th grade, I moved to Mumbai. Having grown up in smaller towns like Amravati & Nagpur, the first few months were a bit of a culture shock. I was particularly amazed at how everyone could speak English, & how that had shaped their sensibilities. I’d grown up on Cartoon Network dubbed in Hindi. In Mumbai, my friends quoted from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
After the 10th grade, I joined the race to crack IIT-JEE. I wasn’t doing too well, so I dropped out of the coaching centre. The frustration reflected on my 12th grade mark sheet: I only scored 55%. With such a poor score, I didn’t have many options left. So, I pursued Mass Communication from a relatively new college. It all felt wrong. Luckily, I had the option to switch colleges after the first year. I studied hard & landed a seat in Wilson College in South Mumbai. For the first time after I moved cities, I’d had my first win.
A degree in mass communication has its pros & cons. ‘It teaches you a bit about everything, but not everything about anything.’ But the degree helps get the essential skills to understand a range of topics such as politics, economics, current affairs, arts, etc. That came handy in the kind of journalism I’d go on to pursue.
After graduating, I joined ‘The Free Press Journal’. It’s always has been a nursery for cub reporters. The likes of R.K Laxman and Bal Thackeray started their career from there, as did many journalists I look up to.
My editor at FPJ was generous with his time and indulgence. The more I reported, the more I wanted to. I also tried my hand at crime journalism at Mumbai Mirror. It was exhilarating to be part of such a marquee publication but soon I realised that daily reporting is not for me. I was drawn to long-form journalism. And luckily, I had quite a few publications – magazines like Open and Caravan, newspapers like Times of India and Hindustan Times – willing to give space to my pieces.
In 2015, I enrolled at Cardiff University. That year was when I came into my own. My class had students from 15 different countries there; my professors were veterans in the profession with the highest academic pedigree. They all helped me realise that I had a knack for storytelling, that all I had to do was hone my skills.
Flush from this confidence, I got myself a job in the Maldives. It was a politically turbulent time; the newsroom I worked at was often under the scanner for its critical reportage. I saw up close how power, politics and diplomacy works, and how crucial a role the media has when a democracy gets vulnerable. It gave me invaluable lessons and a few lifelong friends. But deep down, I wanted to return to India. It’s a crazy place but the possibilities for journalism are endless.
I’ve been in India since 2017. And I’ve been lucky enough to pursue stories that reflect the diversity of the country. In the past 6 years, I’ve written for several international platforms too, including the BBC, Al Jazeera, GQ, Vice and Huffington Post. I am conscious of people’s impatience for the written word, so it’s a constant endeavour to blend The Important with The Interesting. It’s taken me on some wild adventures: from saltwater crocodiles in the Andaman to the highest voting booth in the Himalayas, from the elephant camps in Tamil Nadu to serial murder-accused in Punjab. And I’m ever so thankful to have found editors and newsrooms that have enabled me to do so.
I know many people in India aren't happy with the current state of journalism. Print journalism is stifled; TV outlets are an embarrassment. Sticking to your conscience isn’t always easy, especially when the costs of doing that are so high. But if you are a journalist who can afford to do it, please do. It’s much easier then to sleep at night.
As for the news consumers, if you care about democracy, please pay for the news. Free them up from government and corporate patronage and watch how so many will take a stand for what is right. There are quite a few rotten eggs in journalism but most, I believe, want to do their jobs right. Your donations and subscriptions will go a long way in helping them do so.
I experienced this first-hand at The Morning Context. Our company is reader-funded and self-reliant, which gives us the power to report the truth. It’s a model whose time has come. And for India, it’s never been as urgent.
And I’m ever so thankful to have found editors and newsrooms that have enabled me to do so with 'The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism’ award I won in March 2023 helped reaffirm that there's space for my kind of storytelling.
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