'You first tell me, how will it benefit us?', the woman with a thick Bengali accent, on the other end of our mobile conversation, demanded.
'Well, let's first put the information in public domain and that should be enough to put pressure on the government', I tried explaining in a bid to convince her to give me an interview.
The lady's younger brother was in the Army and had gone missing while on duty in Gujarat in 1997. Since there was editorial interest in the story, I was trying hard to get her on record about the efforts made by the family in trying to find their only son.
The STORY & Its IMPACT, that's the classic dilemma for any journalist who would want his or her piece of work to send ripples as far as possible but often that's not exactly what happens with people always wondering if it's worth the effort at all.
And why is IMPACT important?
Hmmm...let me try to elaborate on that front.
On 8 June 1972, Associated Press photographer, Nick UT, raised a storm after his photo of the 'Napalm Girl' unraveled the savagery, of the Vietnam War, before the world.
Imagine one photo left the world stunned ...that's the kind of impact a journalist's piece of work can have -- you can shake the governments as it happened in the case of Watergate, you can expose corruption as it happened in the case of famous sting (Operation Westend) done by Tehelka magazine in 2001, or it can be just an interview like that of Tanushree Dutta that initiated the MeToo movement in India.
Between stories that never see the light of day and those that make heads turn are innumerable tales that do affect the common man yet are not able to shake up the system.
In May 2019, while covering the General Elections, I had gone to a village called Ghatigaon near Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. My point person on the ground wanted me to highlight the ordeal of several villagers whose houses were left incomplete under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
As I sat down outside the kuccha house of one of the villagers, two women came inside the porch and sat down, their gaze intently fixed on me.
(can watch the full story here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3woi4rCoh6I
Both these women, in their late 50s, were daily wage labourers and wanted to speak to a mediawalla about the corrupt Sarpanch who had siphoned off the money meant for building their 'home sweet home'.
'Inko umeed hai ki apki story se shayad inka kaam ban jaye (they are hopeful that the work will be done after your story)', the local contact had told me while we were on our way.
The story was published in the height of election season and as was expected the BJP led by Narendra Modi came back to power with a thumping majority.
For months, after I came back to Delhi, often while returning from office on a rickshaw, I would recall the sullen faces of those two women -- Ram Snehi and Rona -- those were their names.
It's not easy to live under a thatched roof in the blistering heat of May that too in rural parts where there is no fan, no cooler.
It's been almost a year and I still don't know whether these people got complete pucca houses with plastered roofs and walls.
And that's the dilemma I often face as a reporter, somewhere at the bottom of pyramid who files stories hoping that lives would change for better. But nothing changes and it's still business as usual for those in positions of power and authority.
Sometime in June 2019, following a spate of attacks on doctors at government hospitals by patients' family members, I got a chance to work on a short documentary on the condition of government-run hospitals and dispensaries in Delhi.
(can watch the full story here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilAGXLveYoU&t=44s
While we were working on the series, a colleague walked up to me and said how we need to do this on a repeated basis to drive home the point -- that hospitals are overcrowded and government needs to invest more in improving the infrastructure of public healthcare. Of course, he gave the example of Ravish and how his show on trains getting late actually pressured the government to ensure that trains start running on time. As much as we revere Ravish, the fact is that not every journalist has the luxury of deciding the primetime agenda, in our case, there is this much only that we could have done.
As a student of journalism at a broadcast media institute, I remember one senior TV journalist coming for a guest lecture who told us quite bluntly: 'Don't think you can change the world'. It was 2012 and at 26 years I was too optimistic to believe what he preached.
The problem is that somewhere down the line I have now started feeling guilty. Am I doing enough professionally? This question often bothers me as I firmly believe in the principles of public interest journalism. I do have this fancy notion that my job is no less than an IAS officer who has to jump into fray, tackle one of the most intricate and complex situations and make sense of the news as and when it unfolds.
Like just two weeks ago, while covering the plight of women labourers in East Delhi's Gandhinagar locality, who were out of jobs after MCD's sealing drive, those women did ask me the usual question, 'Isse hume kuch fayda hoga? (Will this benefit us?)'
(can watch the full story here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDQivOitxYY
With a poker face, I told them that at least their issues would be highlighted ahead of elections. Once working for 5-6 hrs a day and making a measly Rs200-300 per day, they knew how tough it's is to be a working woman, especially one who opts for field job. They not only fed me but even asked if I wanted to use the washroom.
In hindsight, instead of falling prey to usual coverage of toxic electoral politics replete with religious slurs and remarks about a particular community, at least there was a sincere effort to bring the real issues to the fore.
As long as truth, objectivity and conviction is there...perhaps the impact can take a backseat, many more such ripples may create a strong wave one day. Inshallah!
Hi!
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