ET charms reporter in 25 mins
The newspaper has given me fame, respect and I am trying to pay it back with whatever abilities I possess
The newspaper has given me fame, respect and I am trying to pay it back with whatever abilities I possess. PHOTO: EXPRESS
I remember my first meeting with Kamal Siddiqi very clearly. It took place on July 10, 2010, in Karachi. Around 25 minutes into our meeting, I had become a member of The Express Tribune family.
My association with the newspaper is about to complete its fifth year and I am proud to say that I am one of the senior members of The Express Tribune family. I have been to many newsrooms where reporters, sub-editors and other staff members do not get along and work like strangers. Here, things are very different.
As soon as I joined the newspaper I started having doubts about whether or not I could prove myself worth their salt. But under the fantastic guidance of Mahim Maher, I started putting all my energy into my work. To my surprise, I received my first token of appreciation, a special mention, for a story I wrote on a photographer who worked with the Pakistan Peoples Party. The special mention gave me a good boost and I kept working hard. I visited the newspaper’s Karachi office for the first time – six months after I joined it, in December, 2010. I was excited about the people I was going to meet. I felt very lucky to have such talented and thoroughly professional colleagues. During my five years of association with the newspaper, I have spent a lot of time trying to correct the way people pronounce the name of the paper. Many SHOs and head constables, whom I have called for stories, still call it Express Tirbunal or Express Tirbun. Most of them refuse to ‘waste their energy’ deciphering an English newspaper, saying it is not their mother tongue.
To me, the newspaper is my pride and joy. It has given me fame, respect and I am trying to pay it back with whatever abilities I possess.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2015.
My association with the newspaper is about to complete its fifth year and I am proud to say that I am one of the senior members of The Express Tribune family. I have been to many newsrooms where reporters, sub-editors and other staff members do not get along and work like strangers. Here, things are very different.
As soon as I joined the newspaper I started having doubts about whether or not I could prove myself worth their salt. But under the fantastic guidance of Mahim Maher, I started putting all my energy into my work. To my surprise, I received my first token of appreciation, a special mention, for a story I wrote on a photographer who worked with the Pakistan Peoples Party. The special mention gave me a good boost and I kept working hard. I visited the newspaper’s Karachi office for the first time – six months after I joined it, in December, 2010. I was excited about the people I was going to meet. I felt very lucky to have such talented and thoroughly professional colleagues. During my five years of association with the newspaper, I have spent a lot of time trying to correct the way people pronounce the name of the paper. Many SHOs and head constables, whom I have called for stories, still call it Express Tirbunal or Express Tirbun. Most of them refuse to ‘waste their energy’ deciphering an English newspaper, saying it is not their mother tongue.
To me, the newspaper is my pride and joy. It has given me fame, respect and I am trying to pay it back with whatever abilities I possess.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2015.