Since almost everything I do is turning into shit and almost every relationship that I make attempts to build falls apart, I will write about the only good thing that’s going in my life. Part of the new master plan to always stay positive. So here it goes- I GOT THROUGH JAMIA! Well it isn’t technically a completely good thing because I've just been called for the interview. It’s on the 20th. Im nervous about it. And damn quota! If I get through the interview I’ll completely respect myself for one full day! I mean sure I got through Stephen’s but I always lived with the guilt that the only reason I got through that college was because I was Christian. And I always felt guilty bout the fact that I might be occupying the seat of someone who actually deserved to be in Stephen’s. someone whose deserved it more and whose seat I snatched jus because of the fact that I belonged to a certain religion, regardless of the fact that I never as much attended a full mass for the entire three years that I was in college. Talk about loyalty to one’s religion.
My entrance had gone well but I had the made the most fatal mistake conceivable by answering all the four questions asked in one booklet instead of writing two answers each in two separate answer sheets as was required. But what I really think did the trick, besides my extremely well written answers (cough-cough) were my Statement of Purpose! I tell you boys and girls a well written SoP does the entire trick. Take notes. Will ya?!
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Growing up, in the little town of Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas, we did not have a television set in our house; it was a luxury those days. So my earliest memory of what media was, or what I understood of it, goes back to my childhood days when my father, then journalist for the Nepali language daily Sunchari in Darjeeling, allowed me to accompany him for a myriad of events ranging from an outright political march against the unfair policies of the West Bengal government, to a friendly football match being played between two villages in a football field carved right in the middle of the tea garden, to interviewing victims of landslides, a major problem every monsoon in Darjeeling. Needless to say, all these visits and the opportunity it gave me to interact with so many people from almost every possible background helped me to view events from a perspective that prompted me to think about the important issues around me and affected me in more ways than one.
Hence, print media was the first ‘kind’ of media that I was exposed to. It was the prime source of information there and the window to the outside world. The tradition of reading the newspaper outside tea kiosks and the debate that would follow kept the townsfolk quite satisfied with their daily dose. Small as it may be, the town would not miss out to have a share from the booming growth and penetration of electronic media that consumed India in the 1990s. Pretty soon, every household, including ours, had a TV set; first came the black and white one, then the coloured. With the advent of television there was a sudden rush and availability of 24-hours of information and entertainment. One could see plump housewives basking under the feeble sun, discussing the tragic life of their favourite soap characters. I, for one, thanked the good heavens above for making the TV and saving me from my hellish existence - the neighborhood kids no longer made fun of me, because Shaktimaan told them it’s wrong to do so. Heidi by Johanna Spyri would never have sparked off my love for reading, had it not been for the Japanese animated version that my brother and I would religiously watch every weekend!
If I have to describe the impact media has had in my life, specifically two memories conjure in my mind.
I still remember waking up on a cold February morning, when I was fifteen, to flickering TV News channels broadcasting about the Columbia Space Shuttle mishap. Kalpana Chawla was one of the seven astronauts who had lost her life while the shuttle was re-entering the earth’s atmosphere after a sixteen-day trip in Space. I can’t say for sure what it was, but something in me changed and I mourned for her, along with the rest of the country. As is the case these days with every news-maker, all the news channels aired special shows about her journey from Karnal, a small village in Haryana to out in Space. For the next two years I worked as hard as I could in the hopes of following her footsteps. I would go to the library and devour books after books about Space and the Universe. I even read her biography. Of course, my ICSE marks in mathematics and science smashed my dreams of starting a career as an astro-physicist and later on moving on to become an astronaut. And besides that, my height would not have allowed me to even sit inside the cockpit, let alone a space shuttle, but that’s another story. Every time I think about this juvenile dream of mine, I get a smile on my face.
The second story takes me back to my class twelve second term exams. I remember writing an entire essay about the ‘Relevance of the Brain Drain Theory in the 21st century India’, based solely on a special issue of India Today that I had read. When the term started afresh, my teacher read my essay in class. It turned out I had been the only one to attempt it. Having abandoned my ‘astronaut dream’ two years prior, it was on that day that I decided that I want to be the one to write an article about something, anything, that would help a girl like me to write her essay, somewhere in the world…or India will do for now.
My move to Delhi to pursue my bachelor’s degree in History from St Stephen’s College provided me with an invaluable exposure to a variety of cultures from within India. My active participation and the opportunity to lead the Hindi Dramatics Society, Shakespeare Sabha, of college, in capacity of the joint secretary, has instilled in me a deep love for the creative arts. I love being on stage. Besides this, the experience of hosting an sms request show and acting for an infomercial designed for NIIT, has equipped me with the confidence to carry out scripted dialogues with as much ease as impromptu ones in front of the camera. Not only television, but I have also had the chance to write for a monthly radio show for AIR and to record for radio skits. This range of work was propelled by the deep desire in me to be associated with the media in any which way, in any which capacity.
My association with (company name)in Delhi, for the past one year has exposed me to the glamorous side of the media too, hence increasing my fascination.
This is a particularly suitable course to translate my interests into a career. I believe that I possess the enthusiasm to expand my knowledge base and the horizons of my perspective. I also understand that the valuable experience of studying at the A.J Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre entails immense hard work but my ability to persist and the eagerness to learn have propelled me to apply for it.
Tell me I’m good!!
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