Letter from Bangalore, March 30, #PoynterIndia
Tom Huang
On my last night in India, I sit in my room and look out upon the street. Even on a Sunday, the traffic is a river that flows with its own logic. Cars, buses, auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, bicycles; an elevated train gliding by; and beyond, a lush green forest.
Two years ago, I left India bewildered and confused, unsure whether I could summon the energy to return. Now, even though I leave exhausted, I feel I could come back any time.
I think of Marina Beach in Chennai, and the men and women who tapped on the windows of our car, gesturing as if putting food to their mouths.
I think of our hotel in Bangalore on Saturday night, and the crowd of beautiful 20-somethings dressed to the nines, flirting in the lounge and around the pool.
I think of the young journalist who told me he grew up poor, selling things on the streets of Delhi. Somehow, he got the schooling he needed. He wanted to talk to me about narrative writing. It turned out that we shared an admiration for Jack Hart and Roy Peter Clark’s books on writing.
I think of the young journalist who had an engineering degree, but had left the computer industry to become a reporter. When she learned I had a similar background, she said, “You inspire me. You’ve shown me what’s possible.” I told her, “You have a bright future. You can do this.”
I encouraged her to pursue her love for journalism, even though I had come to understand that journalists in India face formidable challenges - perhaps even more challenges than we do in the U.S. They face profound business and political pressures, with some of the media companies succumbing to “paid news.” Some of the journalists who have fought for open records have paid with their lives.
Still, we share many of the same concerns. My friends and I warned our Indian colleagues that the digital disruption that has rocked the U.S. news industry could come to India - if not now, then in the next several years. What would they do to prepare for that storm?
On my last night in India, I look out upon the urban river, and I can see how travel returns you to childhood. You look at everything with awe and wonder.
And yet travel also catapults you into adulthood, because you can appreciate the paradoxes and contradictions of an unfamiliar place. And you see how those who seem so different can, in the end, share so much with you.
03/30/14
Sue Bullard rocks in her new Indian shirt, talks about Ethics in Newsrooms
03/29/14
Casey continues to enthrall the room with insights on digital publishing
03/29/14
The local partners here did a great job with the standees. I feel sad leaving them behind.
03/29/14