The Indian Express

One of the many publications of the Express Group Limited, The Indian Express (IE) is a daily English newspaper that I am writing for during my stint here in India. It is one of the top 5 daily newspapers with a small circulation of about 50,000; but a circulation within the higher rung of society - the businessmen, the politicians, the elites, and alot of working professionals.

Today, marked my first day at work. As we all abhor the first day of introductions, of having to get used to a new environment and being the loner for a day, and settling in, I had to do what i had to do. I had a chance to have a casual, very informal, chat with (in order of ascending superiority) the Editor of IE (Mr Rakesh Sinha), the Executive Editor (Mr Monojit Majumdar) and the man at the top, Managing Editor (Mr Raj Kamal Jha) - all of whom warmly welcomed me to the IE family. They were very humble, very understanding and above all, very systematic with setting objectives for me to achieve over the course of the 8 weeks.

The atmostphere in the office is generally youthful. The team is a relatively young team, with the Editors averaging 45 at most, and the reporters averaging 25 years old. Hence, I had no problems talking to and breaking the ice with any of my colleagues.

I have been tasked to familiarize myself with two current hot issues - the Delhi University admissions & the Lokpal anti-corruption legislation saga. Two very interesting topics being discussed on front-page news each day, since a month ago. The aim is for me to have at least 4 articles published before i leave. The goals are simple: Know at least 2 current issues well, and have your byline in the papers! Knowing that I am here in a foreign land, Mr Raj said "I'm not gonna ask you to stay in the office for 8 hours. Go out! See the city! Talk to people! Only then you can understand the realities of India." Oh yea you bet i will explore the city!

As it is, my 15-minute journey to work every morning is filled with beautiful sights of India - the India Gate for instance, standing tall and proud against the glaring rays of the rising sun. On board my semi-disintegrating chartered Auto (a tuk-tuk like, 3-wheeled, motor taxi) driven by Arshad Bhai (bhai = brother), all i have to do is to sit back, enjoy the rickety ride, consume the beauty (and the not so beautiful sights of the vagabonds littering the streets), while trying not to choke on the dust i inhale! Quite some multi-tasking right there.

L to R: A homeless beggar sitting by the road side. Most of them are also mentally unsound. A 30-smth year old man selling slices of coconut from car to car amidst the busy (sometimes fatal) traffic of Delhi at mid-day when temperatures are no less than 38 degrees celcius.

Upon reaching the office, i will be greeted by the soft and polite voice of the office boy: "Goodmorning Ma'am! Ap kaise hain? (How are you?) Coffee or tea, Ma'am?" To which, my response will differ from day to day. "Main thik hu. Main chai ki tarah. Dhan'yavad." (I am fine. I would like tea (chai). Thank you.) Excuse my phonetic spelling but that's how i would pronounce it, at least. Where my Hindi proficiency is concerned, I understand a lot better than i speak. It's enough for me to get by. And i could get used to getting served like this, it's not doing me any good!

Oh wow, the power just tripped and there is currently a black-out in the entire office.. The generator is supplying electricity for the computers. Well it has to! I'm guessing it will come on in a few minutes. Or so, i hope.

And so, where work is concerned, I am currently working on two articles:

1) Related to the extreme under-supply and over-demand for admissions into Delhi Uni, I am writing on students who, either can't get into the course that they want or choose not to study in Delhi, choose to go abroad to study in some popular destination countries like the US, UK, Australia and NZ. And of course, how can i leave out Singapore considering the influx of Indian students in NUS alone.

2) This opinion piece would be related to the Lokpal anti-corruption saga, in which I will write on Singapore's anti-corruption mechanisms simply because Indian politicians have always seen Singapore to be the ideal non-corrupt bureacracy and have since strived for the "Singapore dream" - a model that is not necessarily replicable in this country.

Till the next entry!