Monday Musing
[ Ranjit Sinha ]
Once upon a time, I had a mentor in the field of journalism who used to guide me in his own away, which was very unique and peculiar.
“What is the result?” – that four-word sentence, combined with a peculiar body language, was enough for him to land his pupils in a ditch and to let them think twice about becoming professional journalists. My mentor used to yell at his disciples as per his wishes.
I never saw that mentor commending someone for their hard work and sincerity towards their profession.
Another mentor that I found in my life as a journalist, at the beginning of the new millennium, was an amazing gentleman.
This mentor would carefully read the prepared reports placed before him, and then he would cast a glare at the learner and begin to rewrite it. He did not speak, nor did he scream at anyone.
That was enough to make a scribe nervous and get moulded.
After more than a decade in the field of journalism, I found a lady mentor. Her mentorship was completely different and not seen before.
She used both soul and brain to make her subordinate journalists comfortable in their duties and assigned works. She judged the capability of each of her team minutely, and assigned work accordingly. The lady mentor let her subordinates polish their writing, following her writing skill.
Probably, ‘be an example, not an adviser’ is her mantra for success in the field of journalism. She has become an idol for her staff with her amazing personality and humane approach.
Life is nothing but an accumulation of experiences and choosing the right experiences to drive life forward. I do learn something from someone and from some situations which appear before me.
My last experience with the lady mentor was startling and worth emulating in personal life also.
Apart from journalism, another field where one can gain experience is garbage management by the government agencies.
For the last few decades, garbage management in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) has been a challenging task for the authorities concerned, and the challenges still remain Herculean before the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) due to various reasons.
The Gauhati High Court had in the recent past directed the IMC to impose heavy fine on those who throw garbage on the roads or elsewhere. It seems that the twin capital’s dwellers do not take this directive seriously, as I observe the IMC vehicles lifting garbage from here and there along the roadside every morning.
Based on my personal observation, I would like to say that a sense of cleanliness among the members of the public is not enough; a sense of ‘Hamara Arunachal’ is a must. This sense of belongingness cannot be imposed. It comes from within, not outside.
Unless the sense of ‘Hamara Arunachal’ comes from the hearts of the common public, the ICR will remain the dirtiest city.
The government’s agencies are cooperators in garbage management, but the real actors are the public.
