Friday, January 02, 2009

I'm sad to leave

Another year has gone by. I'll soon be a whole year older, but not a whit wiser. Time's passing always makes me pause and spend a few moments in thought; that's why I act all retrospective during New Year or on birthdays. But now that 2009 has already begun, I'm finding it rather hard to take a step back and look at the vast carcass of the year I leave behind. So, I'm just going to focus on this past month and hope that by writing of it here, at least some of the lessons I learnt in December will stick.

I worked in a newspaper: technically, I'm still working in the newspaper. Today's my last day and I've finished and filed my final article and I have nothing left to do. I learned that newspaper work can be a really adrenaline pumping job- you do have to get out a fresh paper every single day. There are hardly any holidays and people are always busy. Still, every single person I met, took out the time to smile and speak kindly to me- a bewildered intern. Everyone seemed rather bemused that an IITian would be interested in newspaper work, but they often went out of their way to make things easy for me.
Lesson 1: Be nice to people.

I also learnt that press people are treated pretty well out there. Every event I attended, I was plied with tea and offered free gifts. It can get to your head quite easily. I hopefully, haven't been around long enough yet.
Lesson 2: Don't let it all go to your head.


The work is always fresh; after all, you're constantly looking for a newer angle, a better edge, to make your piece stand out. Deadlines are tight and have to be met, no excuses.
Lesson3: (Most Important) Don't procrastinate. There's no time for it in the real world.

The news is always different and as a reporter, you get to meet new people everyday. There were amusing (WTF) moments and rather tiresome ones.
Lesson 4: Don't ever lose your sense of humour.

All said and done, I really don't want to return to Quantum Mechanics yet.
Can't I stay just a little bit longer?

4 comments:

Abhinav said...

Haha... Some very obvious lessons we most easily forget...

Unknown said...

all good things come to an end sweetheart...... we r missing u ab aaja:*

SaiK said...

Lesson 3 seems the most challenging.. welcome to the world of Quantum Physics !!

Nithya said...

@Abhinav, that's so true.

@Aarathi, I'm missing you too :* You're the only people ho can reconcile me to returning :p

@SaIk, you're right. Lesson 3 is definitely the most challenging for me. I'm a master procrastinator.
As for Quantum Physics, how bad can it be :)