by Yayaati Joshi
You were an engineer by training. At what point in time did you make a switch to journalism/writing? Was it a planned move?
Actually, I trained in computer science after my engineering degree, and worked in software for a number of years (22, to be precise). About 8-9 years into that career, I tried my hand at writing, really just as a lark. But I got published and that was a kick, so I tried it again. And again. And at some point, somebody gave me a column. Then another. Then I won a fellowship. I wrote a book … and pretty soon, it was pretty clear that software had become the hobby and writing the career. And that’s where I am (well, the software company folded about 8 years ago, so now I’m a full-time writer). I can’t say it was planned. But at the point I tried writing – and as much as I found writing software stimulating – I was looking for something more in life than just that.
The reputation of journalism, as a profession, is that is does not pay well. And amongst all the mediums, print media is supposedly the least paying of them all. An adage that I came across once was: “Journalists get paid per word, or perhaps”. Did the knowledge of this attribute of the job effect your decision to become a writer in any way?
Can’t say it did! Of course we all want money and I’m no exception. But I think it is self-defeating and stupid to choose a profession based on how much it pays you. To me, that’s a recipe for a disaster where you are stuck doing something you hate, stuck because you have obligations for which you need money and it’s close to impossible to take the risk of switching professions. Instead, choose a profession that interests you, that you even have a passion for. When those things are in place, the money will follow.
You write about two very different subjects: Politics and Mathematics. How easy or difficult is it to change the tone of your writing when dealing with these fundamentally different topics?
Actually I also do a fair amount of travel writing, but anyway. I don’t know that I consciously try to change the tone of my writing. In whatever I write, my effort first of all is to write simply, approachably. I try to write as if I’m actually sitting down in conversation with my reader. If I can manage that, I think the subject doesn’t change that kind of tone much. Yes, perhaps some subjects can do with a little more humour than others, or a little more detail. But those things are like gravy: important, but not a factor in the tone I use, in how the article turns out.
As a journalist who covers politics, one often comes across accusations of affiliations to a party, or of having a tendentious frame of mind. While it is easy to dismiss such allegations, for most of them can be malicious, has there ever been an incident where someone disagreed with you, and that made you reexamine your views?
I like to think any strong disagreement makes me re-examine my views. Not necessarily change them – I don’t think too many of us really change our views on important issues – but at least consider them again. In the 90s, for example, I had a running battle in our respective columns with a writer who had diametrically opposite views to mine. Let me be frank: I thought and still think her views were repulsive. But the force with which she put them forward made me think through my own views and arguments, gave me a clarity about them that, I believe, made me a better writer. I was grateful for that. And while I still disagreed with her, I think I grew to understand her at some level. I think that kind of understanding is what dialogue should be about: I may never agree with you, but I think I can understand you.
Regarding “Roadrunner”—travel books are plenty, and one could say that it’s a worn out theme. Did you have trouble convincing 
the publisher of its merit?
I cannot imagine that travel is a “worn out theme”. There is always something new in travel, something more to explore and to write about. Done well, it is endlessly fascinating. For me and “Roadrunner”, I saw it as a book I wanted to and perhaps had to write. Getting a publisher was almost secondary to that. I knew that my priority was simply to write the book, and if I did that well enough, it would be published.
In what ways, do you think, has reporting politics in India changed over the years?
I think there are more journalists who are willing to investigate issues in depth. I think too that much reporting is less deferential than it used to be, though there is still a fair amount of unquestioning hero-worship of major political figures (in which the journalists doing the worship more or less reflect tendencies in the wider population). I also think there are ways in which journalists find and explore different facets of their political stories, looking for connections and nuances. Most of this is encouraging.
How is ‘new’ media – online channels, ‘alternatives’ to mainstream news, like a Firstpost, altering the Indian reporting landscape?
The landscape has changed in the sense that there are now a whole lot more places to turn to for news. This process is opening up new opportunities for young journalists, and the competition means there are people trying to get their own stories out all the time. I don’t think we have had a chance to use Twitter as extensively and creatively as has happened in, say, the Turkey or Iran protests. But the fact remains that there are far more alternatives than there used to be. Though I don’t think any of this has changed the fundamentals of reporting much: there is still a need for diligent, hard-nosed journalism.
Media of various kinds run series on many social causes these days – ranging from potholes in Mumbai rains to protesting against acid attacks to claiming the right to space to walk in the city – what is your opinion on these, and what kind of impact do you think they seek to achieve or do have?
My opinion? They are absolutely necessary. They are often well done and I would like to think that they make people think. Clearly the people who run these campaigns hope to influence policy (potholes, pedestrian space) or attitudes (acid attacks), and that’s a good thing too. But my opinion about the impact they have had is considerably less bright. Potholes, for example: I remember campaigns about them every monsoon for the last several years. Yet we continue to have both potholes and campaigns, in more or less the same language every year. Clearly the campaigns have not been able to push the Municipality into actually fixing the problem. I’m even more pessimistic about changing attitudes, especially towards women. Something must change those attitudes, but it’s not going to happen with a series of newspaper articles alone.
Yayaati Joshi is a man with simple tastes and intense beliefs – he prefers the company of close friends, an engaging book or an Alfred Hitchcock movie. His placid demeanour is often mistaken for reticence; Yayaati is a self- proclaimed loner, whose recent pursuits include his foray as a budding writer. Yayaati blogs at http://rantingsofadelusionalmind.wordpress.com
Author image: Livemint
