I've always wondered if I could be counted as a "People's Person". Superficially, yes. I don't mind having people around me all the time. I love watching them, even studying them, chatting with them, trying to find out why they fascinate me so much. In these terms, I am a very "People's Person". I can chat up almost anyone and like I say in my profile, "I can make a rock talk."
Yet, there's something about people that deters me. I can never manage an eye-contact with someone unless I know them well enough. I'll shake hands with people I've seen for the first time, and I'd be most probably looking at the hands or their shoes (it's often the latter), avoiding their faces completely. I remember doing that in college once, when the guy told me, "At least look into my eyes when you shake hands." I didn't or rather I was so shy that I couldn't. You have to be more than an acquaintance to have me look you in the eye. It's bad manners, I know. At a party, I'd much rather take the corner table or pretend to be the photographer than actually take move from table to table meeting people. Probably, this behaviour stems from my low self-esteem.
It's a combination of both these factors that made me choose a career in journalism. I love people - from a distance. (Bring them any closer and I'll probably make a 100-metre dash!) Journalism allows that space. It allows me to talk to just about anyone, watch just about anyone without letting anyone encroach upon my space. Everyone wants journalist 'friends' but there are very few who'll cross the line and make a friend out of a journalist. Journalists are lonely people and they like staying alone. It's like sitting on a knife-edge as the world around you yo-yo's to find its balance. Tough as it may be, it gives you a high. It's a position few people would get into and you almost feel superior to all those folks who're still yo-yoing. Put me in a roomfull of people, I'd much rather be the journalist than myself. I call it self-preservation.
Yet, there's something about people that deters me. I can never manage an eye-contact with someone unless I know them well enough. I'll shake hands with people I've seen for the first time, and I'd be most probably looking at the hands or their shoes (it's often the latter), avoiding their faces completely. I remember doing that in college once, when the guy told me, "At least look into my eyes when you shake hands." I didn't or rather I was so shy that I couldn't. You have to be more than an acquaintance to have me look you in the eye. It's bad manners, I know. At a party, I'd much rather take the corner table or pretend to be the photographer than actually take move from table to table meeting people. Probably, this behaviour stems from my low self-esteem.
It's a combination of both these factors that made me choose a career in journalism. I love people - from a distance. (Bring them any closer and I'll probably make a 100-metre dash!) Journalism allows that space. It allows me to talk to just about anyone, watch just about anyone without letting anyone encroach upon my space. Everyone wants journalist 'friends' but there are very few who'll cross the line and make a friend out of a journalist. Journalists are lonely people and they like staying alone. It's like sitting on a knife-edge as the world around you yo-yo's to find its balance. Tough as it may be, it gives you a high. It's a position few people would get into and you almost feel superior to all those folks who're still yo-yoing. Put me in a roomfull of people, I'd much rather be the journalist than myself. I call it self-preservation.
1 comment:
Interesting take on being a journalist
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