As a child, while walking past newspaper stands I’d always make a resolution to one day, buy every newspaper there is and do nothing but read them the entire day. Today that dream is a reality.
An avid consumer of the news media, I’ve grown up reading Reader’s Digest, The Times of India, watching everything from DD News, to The Economist, Indian Express, NDTV and so many more. Years of my life can be denoted by the media I was consuming then. From listening to AIR News with my grandparents and the Cadbury Dairy Milk ‘Khush hai zamana aaj pehli tareek hai’ every month to fighting over the remote for catching every episode of Shekhar Gupta’s ‘Walk the Talk’ and NDTV’s ‘Just Books’, brands and their stories have always been an integral part of my life.
It’s a Big World out there
The natural course of direction led me to Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC) and opened up the world of communications to me. Barely four months into being a communications practitioner, everyday I’m still amazed at the stories we get to tell and the difference it makes. To the sceptics out there, demanding why communications matter, I can’t say enough.
Corporate veterans who created the entity and its place in the world, with great trust make us partners in the journey to narrate their stories. From my internship days at TEDxGateway, I remember us, speaker curators, on the day of the event were equally nervous, with our hearts held out in our hands when our respective speakers were speaking. This is similar to the journey in nurturing brands and corporate reputations; it is immensely exciting and an honour to be the beholder of the corporate story to the markets, policymakers, consumers and the media.
The Beginning
While, in the first quarter of the journey, you’re entailed with the operational work, which can be a deterrent to the motivation, but is a very integral part of creating the magic. Without reading avidly of the brand, we new joiners can’t be expected to behold their reputation. While, it is easy to get trapped in the victim mentality and consider the profession a mere sales job; proactively working on aspects you love is important. Even if it is 20% of the entire time span, you can eventually increase your circle of influence as Stephen Covey says, and subsequently increase the time given.
Every time I walk into the office, I feel the ideas and amazing stories oozing out of every corner; and my heart wishes to be a part of each of these. And what’s more, I ask to be a part of these, and never have I ever been told ‘No’. So what are we scared of? We limit ourselves with fear, with thinking less of ourselves due to our age – what can 21 year olds possibly contribute, due to lack of experience – I have no idea how it works etc. Get the idea my friend and simply ask to learn, the great advantage of the age of 21 is that no one, absolutely no one expects you to be a master, and no one will discourage learning.
What’s Next
First of all, the operations and procedures if completed with awareness have a lot to teach and secondly, if you want more, ask for it and you’d be surprised the number of times you’re given a chance to learn and grow. The profession is rooting for our future and looking to us to take their legacy forward; step up and be a custodian.
Ready to Fly
I for one, am here for forever, and enthused for communications as a whole. My days liven up when a Communications professional is appointed on the Board, and when we’re contacted to be equal partners in decision making. Days when I discover the power of stories, entice me to tell more and better and meaningful ones. Days when I request and get to join an on-going campaign, make me wake up every day with a spring in my step and fill joy in every cell of my body.
Stay, and see the magic for yourself.
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