2020: Story 5: Priya's Story
My fifth short story of the year.
Prompt: Stale Word count: 1200 words
“I expected better work from you, Priya.”
“What’s wrong with this piece, Rana? I remember you clearly told me to focus on the struggles of entrepreneurs.”
“Yes, I did, but your piece doesn’t convey the ‘struggle’ bit at all!”
“Humph! That means you probably didn’t read through the entire story! Look at paragraphs 2 and 3, where I describe the difficulties this guy went through and how he learned to cope with..”
“That’s exactly my point, Priya! Where’s the guy’s angst? Why isn’t he railing against the system? Why isn’t he blaming the competition? Why is he such a good guy and ‘learning to cope’, Priya? How many times must I tell you – drama and anger are the only emotions that send circulation figures soaring!”
“I don’t remember being taught that in journalism school.”
“Life isn’t journalism school, Priya. It’s real. No idealism, only the grim reality. I’m here to sell this newspaper and that’s my first and last goal. You better make it yours too if you want to survive here.”
xxxxxxxxxxxx
“Ma’am, I noticed that you’ve been standing here for a long time. You look very tired. Would you like to sit down for a while in my car?”
“Oh! Thank you so much,…”
“Priya.”
“Hi, Priya. You’re right. I’m tired. But I can’t go away either. I’ve been asked to wait to give my statement to the police. The police station is quite far from here, so I suppose it’s going to take a while for them to reach.”
“Did you actually see the accident happen?”
“Yes! It was horrible!”
“I wonder how it happened.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Priya.”
“The cars must have been really speeding for them to end up in that mangled heap.”
“Hmmn.”
“And there’s so much blood…many people must have been hurt. Did you get to see what happened to whom? Did someone die? Was there a child too?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it, Priya! Why do you want to know these things from me? Don’t worry, just read the newspaper tomorrow, and you’ll get to read all the gory details you want!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Hmmn…this piece is a little better, Priya. I liked your description of how the eyewitness was angry at the ineptness of the police, who didn’t turn up even an hour after the accident had been reported. But why didn’t you include a statement from the mother of the child who died in the accident?”
“Well, I did go to the hospital where the injured had been admitted. I saw the mother wailing in pain and the family was all around, weeping and crying, so I didn’t think it correct to intrude on their private moment of grief…”
“What YOU think is correct or not doesn’t really matter, Priya. Imagine how moving your story could have been if you had got even a tiny statement from one of the parents, or a close family member. Grief sells just as well as anger, Priya!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Namaste, Minister Gupta, you asked me to come by today.”
“You must be Priya from New India Times, right?”
“Yes. As I mentioned over the phone, I hope to have some insights regarding the new regulations which your ministry announced yesterday.”
“You’re very persistent, Priya. No wonder you have a byline of your own at such a young age. And you’re very beautiful too…”
“It’s my duty to get information, Mr. Gupta, and I’ve worked hard to get where I am. Shall we start the interview now?”
“Anytime you’re ready, my dear.”
“I noticed that the new regulations have increased the tax on certain goods, but isn’t that going to deter investors from…”
“Ah, you’re as smart as you’re pretty, Priya!”
“Keep your hands off me, Gupta!! Is this the way you treat all women reporters?”
“You look even more beautiful in your anger, Priya, my Priya! I can’t wait to kiss your luscious lips quivering with rage!”
“Shut up! Shut up! Let me go! There – take that you dirty old man! Did my blow hurt you a lot, Gupta? You’ll learn not to molest any woman from now on!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“I’m sorry you had this bad experience, Priya. But I’m sorry we cannot run this piece in our paper.”
“But why, Rana? We have always championed the cause of women, and run so many campaigns around women empowerment. We’ve encouraged women to speak up against any form of abuse and encouraged whistleblowers to give us their stories of harassment at the workplace! When one of your own journalists is molested, why won’t you stand by her?”
“You see, Priya, the way you’ve written it…”
“Wait. Don’t tell me there isn’t enough drama or anger. I’ve give you a word-by-word account of what happened. My outrage at being abused flows through every word of the piece. How can you imply that a woman journalist being molested isn’t drama enough? Haven’t I conveyed my anger well enough to sell your paper, Rana?”
“It’s not that, Priya. You see, you’ve named Mr. Gupta…”
“Of course I’ve named that creep! Why wouldn’t I name him?”
“Try to understand my position, Priya. You know how our ad revenues have been dwindling over the past few months. Just last week, we’ve been promised a massive funding from Kamal Enterprises. You know who owns that firm? Mr. Gupta’s brother-in-law!”
“Oho! And that’s more important to you than your employee being harassed? Imagine, you could even run an exclusive with my interview and position yourself as a true blue protector of woman’s rights, Rana!”
“Priya, why can’t you understand? If I don’t get this funding, I’ll have to shut down this newspaper. What’s the use of any position when the publication itself doesn’t exist?”
“Ah! Now I get it, Rana! Thank you so much for enlightening me!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Hey, boss, slow news day, eh?”
“Hmmn…nothing seems to be happening today, Vijay.”
“Boss, did you see this email that came in today to our newsroom? It’s about that journalist Priya who is – or rather, was – working for our closest competitor, New India Times.”
“I haven’t see it, Vijay. What’s the email about? Is she applying to work for us? I’ve heard she’s smart and good at her job. I’m sure Rana won’t let her quit.”
“No boss, she isn’t going to be working anywhere anymore. She’s sent us an exclusive scoop of how Minister Gupta molested her when she went to interview her. She’s almost begging us to publish it because Rana refused to do it.”
“Ministers molesting journos is stale news, Vijay. We can’t afford offending the minister, either.”
“Boss! Vijay! Did you see the messages on our Whatsapp group just now? They say that Priya Raman, the hotshot journo from New India Times, committed suicide! She’s been rushed to the Koshy Hospital!”
“What!! Manoj – you get the breaking news ticker running with the basic info you got from the Whatsapp messages. Vijay – get to Koshy Hospital at once. I want a minute-by-minute account of all that’s happening there. Once Vijay is ready to report live, let’s drop all other news and focus on this. Thank God for Priya!”
“What’s wrong with this piece, Rana? I remember you clearly told me to focus on the struggles of entrepreneurs.”
“Yes, I did, but your piece doesn’t convey the ‘struggle’ bit at all!”
“Humph! That means you probably didn’t read through the entire story! Look at paragraphs 2 and 3, where I describe the difficulties this guy went through and how he learned to cope with..”
“That’s exactly my point, Priya! Where’s the guy’s angst? Why isn’t he railing against the system? Why isn’t he blaming the competition? Why is he such a good guy and ‘learning to cope’, Priya? How many times must I tell you – drama and anger are the only emotions that send circulation figures soaring!”
“I don’t remember being taught that in journalism school.”
“Life isn’t journalism school, Priya. It’s real. No idealism, only the grim reality. I’m here to sell this newspaper and that’s my first and last goal. You better make it yours too if you want to survive here.”
xxxxxxxxxxxx
“Ma’am, I noticed that you’ve been standing here for a long time. You look very tired. Would you like to sit down for a while in my car?”
“Oh! Thank you so much,…”
“Priya.”
“Hi, Priya. You’re right. I’m tired. But I can’t go away either. I’ve been asked to wait to give my statement to the police. The police station is quite far from here, so I suppose it’s going to take a while for them to reach.”
“Did you actually see the accident happen?”
“Yes! It was horrible!”
“I wonder how it happened.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Priya.”
“The cars must have been really speeding for them to end up in that mangled heap.”
“Hmmn.”
“And there’s so much blood…many people must have been hurt. Did you get to see what happened to whom? Did someone die? Was there a child too?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it, Priya! Why do you want to know these things from me? Don’t worry, just read the newspaper tomorrow, and you’ll get to read all the gory details you want!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Hmmn…this piece is a little better, Priya. I liked your description of how the eyewitness was angry at the ineptness of the police, who didn’t turn up even an hour after the accident had been reported. But why didn’t you include a statement from the mother of the child who died in the accident?”
“Well, I did go to the hospital where the injured had been admitted. I saw the mother wailing in pain and the family was all around, weeping and crying, so I didn’t think it correct to intrude on their private moment of grief…”
“What YOU think is correct or not doesn’t really matter, Priya. Imagine how moving your story could have been if you had got even a tiny statement from one of the parents, or a close family member. Grief sells just as well as anger, Priya!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Namaste, Minister Gupta, you asked me to come by today.”
“You must be Priya from New India Times, right?”
“Yes. As I mentioned over the phone, I hope to have some insights regarding the new regulations which your ministry announced yesterday.”
“You’re very persistent, Priya. No wonder you have a byline of your own at such a young age. And you’re very beautiful too…”
“It’s my duty to get information, Mr. Gupta, and I’ve worked hard to get where I am. Shall we start the interview now?”
“Anytime you’re ready, my dear.”
“I noticed that the new regulations have increased the tax on certain goods, but isn’t that going to deter investors from…”
“Ah, you’re as smart as you’re pretty, Priya!”
“Keep your hands off me, Gupta!! Is this the way you treat all women reporters?”
“You look even more beautiful in your anger, Priya, my Priya! I can’t wait to kiss your luscious lips quivering with rage!”
“Shut up! Shut up! Let me go! There – take that you dirty old man! Did my blow hurt you a lot, Gupta? You’ll learn not to molest any woman from now on!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“I’m sorry you had this bad experience, Priya. But I’m sorry we cannot run this piece in our paper.”
“But why, Rana? We have always championed the cause of women, and run so many campaigns around women empowerment. We’ve encouraged women to speak up against any form of abuse and encouraged whistleblowers to give us their stories of harassment at the workplace! When one of your own journalists is molested, why won’t you stand by her?”
“You see, Priya, the way you’ve written it…”
“Wait. Don’t tell me there isn’t enough drama or anger. I’ve give you a word-by-word account of what happened. My outrage at being abused flows through every word of the piece. How can you imply that a woman journalist being molested isn’t drama enough? Haven’t I conveyed my anger well enough to sell your paper, Rana?”
“It’s not that, Priya. You see, you’ve named Mr. Gupta…”
“Of course I’ve named that creep! Why wouldn’t I name him?”
“Try to understand my position, Priya. You know how our ad revenues have been dwindling over the past few months. Just last week, we’ve been promised a massive funding from Kamal Enterprises. You know who owns that firm? Mr. Gupta’s brother-in-law!”
“Oho! And that’s more important to you than your employee being harassed? Imagine, you could even run an exclusive with my interview and position yourself as a true blue protector of woman’s rights, Rana!”
“Priya, why can’t you understand? If I don’t get this funding, I’ll have to shut down this newspaper. What’s the use of any position when the publication itself doesn’t exist?”
“Ah! Now I get it, Rana! Thank you so much for enlightening me!”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Hey, boss, slow news day, eh?”
“Hmmn…nothing seems to be happening today, Vijay.”
“Boss, did you see this email that came in today to our newsroom? It’s about that journalist Priya who is – or rather, was – working for our closest competitor, New India Times.”
“I haven’t see it, Vijay. What’s the email about? Is she applying to work for us? I’ve heard she’s smart and good at her job. I’m sure Rana won’t let her quit.”
“No boss, she isn’t going to be working anywhere anymore. She’s sent us an exclusive scoop of how Minister Gupta molested her when she went to interview her. She’s almost begging us to publish it because Rana refused to do it.”
“Ministers molesting journos is stale news, Vijay. We can’t afford offending the minister, either.”
“Boss! Vijay! Did you see the messages on our Whatsapp group just now? They say that Priya Raman, the hotshot journo from New India Times, committed suicide! She’s been rushed to the Koshy Hospital!”
“What!! Manoj – you get the breaking news ticker running with the basic info you got from the Whatsapp messages. Vijay – get to Koshy Hospital at once. I want a minute-by-minute account of all that’s happening there. Once Vijay is ready to report live, let’s drop all other news and focus on this. Thank God for Priya!”
xxxxxx The End xxxxxx
In case you haven't noticed, this story is told entirely through dialogue. It was a challenge I took upon myself, to see whether I could convey the story effectively without using narrative descriptions in between. Do let me know what you thought of my attempt.
👍👍
ReplyDeleteAwesome
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteNice well communicated. But reason for Priyas suicide?
ReplyDelete