Writing about journalism in the previous post reminded me of my struggle to be a journalist many years back. I was always interested in writing and somehow I equated writing with journalism. I realized later that this was not the case. Journalistic writing is very different from creative writing. Journalism writing can in fact curtail your creative juices because you are supposed to write in a particular format.
There was an undeniable peer pressure as well. Somehow all my friends were either enrolling or preparing to enroll for Diploma in Journalism. Anyway, at that point in time I was sure that this is what I wanted to do.
Predictably there was a strong resistance from my parents, especially my mother. Now this seems understandable. Journalism doesn't have a very good reputation and my mother was obviously thinking from getting a match perspective. What added to her discomfort was that these were evening classes. The idea of her daughter travelling alone in a bus everyday at 8.30-9 pm was unfathomable to her. At the time Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was the only institute in Delhi (besides Jamia and IIMC) offering journalism course. I had tried at IIMC but wasn't able to get through. So BVB was the only option and she was not ready for it.
I was growing jittery and grumpy as the last day to submit the fees neared (I had cleared the entrance and interview earlier). Here luck intervened. My mother had to travel urgently to Kanpur. I saw a window of opportunity here. One day as he was getting ready to go to office, I started arguing with my father who kept on insisting that he cannot give me money without my mother's permission. However, I could sense that his `NO' was not as strong as my mothers. I kept pushing my luck and he got so fed up that he just said `take it', threw his purse on the bed and walked out of the room. I grabbed the money and deposited the fee for the course that very day. My mother was angry for days after that.
Did I do the right thing? Absolutely yes. I don't have much doubt. I couldn't have been anything else besides a journo. I definitely couldn't have been a teacher, which is what my mother wanted me to be. What I really regret is that I could have done so much more...
Now the question is do I want my daughter to be a journalist. NOOOO. It is not because she is a girl. The reasons are multi-fold:
- It is not a very stable profession. Everybody needs good content but nobody wants to pay well for it.
- You constantly have to prove yourself. This is true for other professions as well but more so in journalism, where you are as good as your last story. Very few journalists are paid well.
- The profession is changing so much (thanks to Bloggers and other factors) that I am certain it is not going to survive in its present form after 10-15 years.
- Last but not the least, it is difficult to maintain work-life balance in journalism. I am able to do it because I am not in mainstream journalism. Even when I worked for Times of India (Hyderabad) and other media houses, I could devote some time to home because I was not in a metro at that time, so the pressure was not that much.
- Lastly, journalists are not the profit center of the organization which leads to insecurity. Freelancing sounds nice but it is not that easy and there are always ten other journalists who are ready to do the same job at half the rate.
There was an undeniable peer pressure as well. Somehow all my friends were either enrolling or preparing to enroll for Diploma in Journalism. Anyway, at that point in time I was sure that this is what I wanted to do.
Predictably there was a strong resistance from my parents, especially my mother. Now this seems understandable. Journalism doesn't have a very good reputation and my mother was obviously thinking from getting a match perspective. What added to her discomfort was that these were evening classes. The idea of her daughter travelling alone in a bus everyday at 8.30-9 pm was unfathomable to her. At the time Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan was the only institute in Delhi (besides Jamia and IIMC) offering journalism course. I had tried at IIMC but wasn't able to get through. So BVB was the only option and she was not ready for it.
I was growing jittery and grumpy as the last day to submit the fees neared (I had cleared the entrance and interview earlier). Here luck intervened. My mother had to travel urgently to Kanpur. I saw a window of opportunity here. One day as he was getting ready to go to office, I started arguing with my father who kept on insisting that he cannot give me money without my mother's permission. However, I could sense that his `NO' was not as strong as my mothers. I kept pushing my luck and he got so fed up that he just said `take it', threw his purse on the bed and walked out of the room. I grabbed the money and deposited the fee for the course that very day. My mother was angry for days after that.
Did I do the right thing? Absolutely yes. I don't have much doubt. I couldn't have been anything else besides a journo. I definitely couldn't have been a teacher, which is what my mother wanted me to be. What I really regret is that I could have done so much more...
Now the question is do I want my daughter to be a journalist. NOOOO. It is not because she is a girl. The reasons are multi-fold:
- It is not a very stable profession. Everybody needs good content but nobody wants to pay well for it.
- You constantly have to prove yourself. This is true for other professions as well but more so in journalism, where you are as good as your last story. Very few journalists are paid well.
- The profession is changing so much (thanks to Bloggers and other factors) that I am certain it is not going to survive in its present form after 10-15 years.
- Last but not the least, it is difficult to maintain work-life balance in journalism. I am able to do it because I am not in mainstream journalism. Even when I worked for Times of India (Hyderabad) and other media houses, I could devote some time to home because I was not in a metro at that time, so the pressure was not that much.
- Lastly, journalists are not the profit center of the organization which leads to insecurity. Freelancing sounds nice but it is not that easy and there are always ten other journalists who are ready to do the same job at half the rate.
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