Are you still at the ‘Tribune’?

If only I made a buck for each time somebody asked me that...Clearly, the world seems to have moved on while I remain in a self-imposed limbo of ‘Newsroom Neverland’.

But from another perspective, time flies here and life has a way of sneaking up on you. Just when you thought you had seen it all, you are struck by your own ignorance and naivety. Talk about reality checks and never quite being prepared for the rollercoaster ride. Over the course of nearly five years, I’ve subbed for city and district pages, harassed reporters for slugs and stories, and passive-punched at the keyboard.

As karma would have it, I also confronted my own stubbornness in the newsroom, agonised over silly typos and newbie edits, nay butchering of my stories, while I drown my sorrows with cookies dipped in Hafiz sb’s legendary chai.

“The hunter becomes the hunted”, a friend quipped on hearing that I had moved from the comfort zone of the news desk to the big, bad world of reporting. Sure, never the twain shall meet and you learn to somehow make sense of that. To me, they are two sides of the same coin and I’m fortunate to have seen the best of both worlds.

However, that does that not qualify me to write self-help manuals or dispense advice for aspiring journalists, beyond my own meandering experience. There is nothing unusual about finding yourself scribbling notes at a protest in the middle of a grimy park when you had actually dressed up for a high-brow reception at an embassy. It will rain on good-hair days and you will be asked to rush to an event and  le a story on a few minutes’ notice.

Just because you get a byline every other day, you will have your fair share of fans and critics, stalkers and followers, and opinionated trolls. You’ll be loved for flattery and serenaded by choice words for honest critique, or worse yet, ostracised for not quoting a source in your story.

Sometimes your story will be waiting for you before you even clock in. Other times, you’ll have to dig out stories in the city that always sleeps --- chasing after blow-dried aunties protesting child rights violations, or transgender activists dancing their worries away. And if you’re lucky, a full-blown dharna might surprise you outside your window and camp out in your backyard for an entire season, with a DJ in tow.

But after all is said and done, ‘Tribune’ is our safe place --- one big happy, dysfunctional family that we all come home to. Or, as our venerable editor put it in a recent staff meeting, “[ET] is like the Hotel California --- you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”