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My Experience: Ugly, Bad, Good!

who, what, when, where

I need a few moments to cock-a-hoop. I have worked with diverse media companies (Newspapers, Tabloids, Magazines, TV channels & online portals both in India and abroad). I started my career with the Patriot newspaper in New Delhi, where I was given independent charge of the Editorial page and the Ideas & Books pages; Book Reviews pages by the Associate Editor(s) J. Sri Raman (a prolific editorial writer and presently, columniston environment and nuclear-free world affairs), who taught me the finest points in headline writing and with my last boss at the Patriot newspaper - Dr. John Dayal (at present, columnist and National Secretary of the All India Catholic Union and national convenor of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights) who read each of my 'Jazz Yatra' reviews enthusiastically.

Incidentally, that was a bipolar world; days of USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and the ideological Cold War was at its zenith. I tasted/edited opinion articles penned by the likes of then CPSU Gen. Secy. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev and indoctrinaire articles written with flourish by most fine Indian diehard Leftist ideologues such as Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Jyoti Basu et al. It wasn't a happy feeling seeing the great Red Superpower bleed behind the iron curtain. Patriot was Leftist in ideology & content. I wasn't! Can a jazz buff be a Communist? Perhaps, not. I was the 'first person' who ever wrote about jazz and covered the Jazz Yatras for Patriot (collar-up!). Some great jazz big bands keep sprouting now from the erstwhile Red Block. Fairly democratic.

I need a few moments to cock-a-hoop. I have worked with diverse media companies (Newspapers, Tabloids, Magazines, TV channels & online portals both in India and abroad). I started my career with the Patriot newspaper in New Delhi, where I was given independent charge of the Editorial page and the Ideas & Books pages; Book Reviews pages by the Associate Editor(s) J. Sri Raman (a prolific editorial writer and presently, columniston environment and nuclear-free world affairs), who taught me the finest points in headline writing and with my last boss at the Patriot newspaper - Dr. John Dayal (at present, columnist and National Secretary of the All India Catholic Union and national convenor of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights) who read each of my 'Jazz Yatra' reviews enthusiastically.

Incidentally, that was a bipolar world; days of USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and the ideological Cold War was at its zenith. I tasted/edited opinion articles penned by the likes of then CPSU Gen. Secy. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev and indoctrinaire articles written with flourish by most fine Indian diehard Leftist ideologues such as Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Jyoti Basu et al. It wasn't a happy feeling seeing the great Red Superpower bleed behind the iron curtain. Patriot was Leftist in ideology & content. I wasn't! Can a jazz buff be a Communist? Perhaps, not. I was the 'first person' who ever wrote about jazz and covered the Jazz Yatras for Patriot (collar-up!). Some great jazz big bands keep sprouting now from the erstwhile Red Block. Fairly democratic.

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Adrenalized

My longest professional stint had been with India's leading English daily Hindustan Times in the New Delhi office spanning nine-years. I joined HT at the News Desk, where eventually I juggled, as a copy editor, between the nation and foreign pages. I was hailed for my headline skills and fondly called: The Headlines Man! by my peers and contemporaries like the DUJ supremo Javed Faridi (also my political mentor) and illustrious editors viz. H.K Dua and Chandan Mitra. (The latter, now owns The Pioneer newspaper and is a BJP-backed Rajya Sabha MP). The best compliment I ever won in HT was when the Deputy News Editor got a customary late evening phone-call from Mr. Chandan Mitra (CM) ... "so what's the page-1 anchor headline?" "Tu Hai Meri Kiran...for real!" (When India's lady supercop Kiran Bedi won the coveted Magsaysay Award; it was her husband's reaction story). Is it by Chhabra?!

Some News Desk trivia: One Christmas eve, an alliteration headline of mine got a prominent Page-1 top display in HT: "Churches' Chimes Cherish Christ". It instigated me to collect good headlines. I made a collage out of mine! Out of bounds for Sotheby's auction house. And, more recently, in 2008, while I was Associate Editor with news24online.com and working in cohort with the wise, suave and seasoned Portal Editor L. H Naqvi (ex-HT, ex-Tribune), one evening, the usually gregarious Naqvi ji walked up to me slowly, looking tired and groggy.

I think it was past 9pm, "Ravi, you know Sania Mirza is upset with Bengaluru crowds. She has announced she will boycott playing there. Can you throw up some headlines fast?" I riposted "Sir, the only one that comes to mind is: SANIA GRAND SLAMS BANGALORE!". Naqvi ji (with a huge smile on his freshly wrinkled face) comes to my side, taps my vertebrae and says "Brilliant, go make it live. I am pushing the edited story!"

As for Mr. Mitra, ask him if he ever danced at my terrace garden? A connoisseur of fine arts., especially Hindi cinema. He will tell you, how I bored him endlessly with legendary American musician and political satirist Frank Zappa anecdotes and tales of fakirs and Sufis! Affable Editor to the core, Mr. Mitra - and very down to earth. I graduated to the business bureaux in my fourth year in HT, where I got the corporate beat.I ate my heart out at the Press Conferences' buffets and nearly killed myself with calorie overdose. Alongside, I continued to dabble in feature writing and extensively wrote about various music genres and covered biennial jazz festivals. I penned obituaries in HT for the love of them: Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Frank Zappa. How I wish the world would't lose such musical geniuses...

Thence, I worked as a Principal Correspondent with The Pioneer newspaper and learnt the dynamics of corporate stories from my Business Editor Amit Goel. The following year, I transmigrated to the Asian Age newspaper as a Principal Correspondent (Business Bureaux in both cases). Yep, I loved each day working with enviable stalwarts like MJ Akbar and Seema Mustafa - Seema ji was always generous in summoning two hot cuppas of caffeine at tea time, exact 5pm, much to the pyrosis of other journos in office. A wonderful boss. Indebted toMJ for having instantaneously approved of my music review column name: Sound Advise. It was never easy to get anything creative approved by Mr. Akbar. What a great writer and ideas man. Over me, Mr. Akbar's genius had slathered...Allah O Akbar! I am a self-proclaimed jazz addict, Frank Zappa devotee and music collector (my immediate neighbors will vouch for this!). I have been covering myriad biennial Jazz Yatras since donkeys and have interviewed and written tributes for rock, jazz/music stalwarts like Max Roach, Didier Lockwood,Dizzy Gillespie,Amanda Jantzen, Judy Carmichael, Monique Debose, Zakir Hussain, Trilok Gurtu, Indian Ocean band, Jean-Luc Ponty and the great British Rock group Deep Purple, John Drumbo French, Andreas Rausch (German artist), Pauline Butcher Bird (Frank Zappa's first personal secretary), Dave Latchaw (pianist), Robert Martin(Bobby), Barbara Rubin,Renee Michele, Gary Lucas, Barbara Dennerlein among others.

As a legal alien in New York, I worked for the India Abroad Newspaper in New York City in 1991 with the great Editors duo Gopal Raju and Veena Merchant (the owners of the Indian diaspora centric newspaper/tabloid)and, subsequently, in early 2000 as a Special Correspondent with the Washington DC based India Post newspaperin its Toronto Bureau. (I had landed myself with my family and 2nd time pregnant wife as a Canadian immigrant in 2000. I eventually gave up my permanent resident status in Canada soon after realizing I was an outright misfit for foreign nations). I recall, back in 1991,Veena Merchant gave me the New York Times style book and said "If you want to work with us, read this, understand it in the next 48-hours, we at India Abroad follow the NYT editing style". The next morning, I gave back the style guide... as a reward for learning it, she took me out for shopping and I walked through the wondrous streets of Manhattan first time. On the way back, we bought canine biscuits for her demure poodle! A fine international journalist and a 'famished foodie friend' now with the AFP (Agence France-Presse), Paris head office, Abhik Kumar Chanda guided me through the thick and thicker in feature writing. My last assignment with an Indian diaspora newspaper was with the Melbourne/Australia based tabloid South Asia Times as its New Delhi Bureau Chief in the early 2000s that a co-journalist and ex-colleague Neeraj Nan da owns and edits. Of late, I have been ghost writing (legally/under oath of secrecy!) for some of world's biggest transnational corporations from countries such as France, South Korea and India among others. I have had a stint with 2 leading advertising agencies as a Senior Copy Writer and planned campaigns of repute.

I have been both full time Associate Professor at leading private Mass Communication universities in Delhi and taught journalism, writing skills, creative writing, media studies (introduced it in one univ) and soft skills (personality development)at various media and management institutes in New Delhi & the NCR. Most of my ex-students are working with leading media companies, dot com(s) and news channels pan-India. I now manage a media advisory and communications company called the Right Impact Media Inc., based in New Delhi that also runs India's First Online Magazine Right Impact Media Inc., executes content creation and specialized writing for leading public relations companies of the country andundertakes complete websites' creationwith emphasis on aesthetics and specialized content. My small team comprises fine programmers and design experts.

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WHAT IS RIGHT IMPACT PR?

Right Impact PR is an independent media advisory firm set up to assist in image enhancement of corporations. It provides clients with a wide range of services for the expanding Indian market including public relations, crisis management, marketing communications, special events planning and assistance. Promoted by communication specialists, Right Impact PR is headquartered in Delhi, India’s capital. Through its network of representatives and associate arrangements, Right Impact PR provides communication services to clients all over the country.Its staff bring a wealth of experience from the corporate and communications sectors. Key personnel have worked with some of India’s leading corporations as well the news media.

HOW IS RIGHT IMPACT PR DIFFERENT?

Despite being a single geopolitical and economic entity, India is, in effect, several markets, divided by cultural, linguistic and socio-economic diversities. Our unique understanding of the working of the communication process in India gives our clients’ communication a strategic edge in penetrating these markets effectively.

It acts as a counselor to large and small companies on strategic communication and image management in all forms. We are committed to make the most of opportunities in the Indian marketplace by providing distinctive approaches to communications challenges.We act as virtually the in-house department for companies which do not want to invest in a fully-staffed corporate communications department. Where clients already have a communications cell, Right Impact PR brings in additional expertise to achieve more cost-effective results. Even while providing nationwide reach, we are committed to maintaining the characteristics of a small firm, providing personal involvement and commitment to working directly with our clients- to provide customized solutions to their communication problems

To ensure the respective publication / online product is brought out professionally and enjoys lead in terms of content & circulation. To take charge of responsibilities and mentor the content / creative / technical team and execute targets efficiently in an organized manner.

Career Highlights:

Copy Editor / business correspondent for 9-years with Hindustan Times, I was independently editing all news stories on the local and foreign news desks. As a corporate reporter, I was writing on IT, automobiles, Chambers of Commerce and on diversified companies. I also edited business stories and selected requisite photographs and gave suitable photo-captions and headlines.

New Delhi Bureau Chief with SAT (www.southasiatimes.com.au), I did newsbreak stories and special interviews that merited page-1 display.

During my stint as Assistant Editor with the leading business news portal (www.indiabiznews.com), I edited all content sourced from news agencies, research and in-house reporters and uploaded the articles and news on an hour-to- hour basis using suitable photographs / captions. I also wrote researched commentaries on various economic spheres. With the EFY Group (www.efytimes.com), as Sr. Assistant Editor, I headed a team of 6 reporters and did exclusive stories on technology and wrote many cover stories for the group magazine Facts For You.

Professional experience:

  • Managing Editor-Owner:www.fnbworld.com
  • Editor, magazine on Real Estate & Infrastructure: Jaaydaad.com
  • Sr. Asst. Editor (HoD): Electronics For You (EFY) Group, having five magazines and portals dedicated to technology from 2006 to 2007
  • Assistant Editor: www.indiabiznews.com
  • New Delhi Bureau Chief: South Asia Times (Ethnic monthly published from Melbourne, Australia)
  • Visiting Faculty: JIMS, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi (Subjects taught: Writing Skills / feature writing, reporting and media studies) from 2004 to 2006
  • Special Correspondent, Ambrosia (India's niche Alcobev trade magazine).
  • Sr. Assistant Professor: Rai University (CMAC) Subjects taught - feature writing and media studies from 2000 to 2004
  • Copy-Editor / Correspondent (News Desk & Business / Corporate Bureau): Hindustan Times, New Delhi from 1990 to 1999
  • Copy-Editor (News Desk / Edit-page): Patriot (Newspaper), New Delhi from 1987 to 1990

Freelanced:

  • SUN (music / lifestyle magazine)
  • Expressions (American Express magazine)
  • City Scan (magazine)
  • India Abroad, New York (weekly tabloid)
  • India Post, Toronto (weekly tabloid)

Interviewed:

Zakir Hussain, Larry Sanger, Gary Lucas, Pauline Butcher Bird, Susmit Sen, Shah Rukh Khan, Ghulam Ali, Daler Mehndi, Alyque Padamsee and Shiv Khera among others

Also reviewed food events and covered the biennial Jazz Yatras...

KRA's

  • Selection of editorial content
  • Supervising editing / headlines / layout
  • Conducting special & business interviews
  • Taking responsibility for final copy

Educational Qualifications

  • Masters in Mass Communication
  • Diploma in Journalism
  • Diploma in Public Relations
  • Diploma in Travel & Tourism
  • Honours in English Literature, Hansraj College / Delhi University

Strengths

  • Communication, verbal & written
  • Writing and editing news and features - be it breaking news, lifestyle or business
  • Doing research, rewriting and polishing copy
  • Shooting smart and creative headlines
  • A team person who can oversee all work as a mentor
  • An excellent communicator, both verbal and written

Member

  • India Habitat Center
  • Press Club of India.
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