A young reporter’s diary
Young speak
By Abhilash Gaur

MOST students are poor and poor students, Wilde tells us, are destined to be miserable. Our friend X, a student, was one of those heavy-weight miserable persons who can plunge the most buoyant gatherings into the depths of gloom with one miserable sigh. That poor!

One day, at 2:15 pm, between the English and History lectures, he had a dream: a pair of Nikes, a pair of Levis and an Enfy. Thereafter, he felt even more miserable.

At night, therefore, he tried ‘tossing and turning’ on his lumpy bed. It did not help. No get-rich formula presented itself to his mind. Finally, sleep came to his rescue and carried him away to the land of dreams.

There, in the land of dreams, he found the mate of his afternoon vision: a worthy named ‘Prospect’. Said Prospect to X, "Want to turn rich, eh? Have experience, moolah to invest? No? Never mind, turn into a freelancer: they need your kind, those papers."

X woke up with a start. Rubbed his eyes. Peered at his old hand-wound... 30’clock. What to do? He sat down to ponder over his dream.

"Freelancer...hmm...but what do I write on?" Then, he had an idea." I’ll interview a doctor, the papers seem to favour that sort of write-up in particular", he told himself. And picking up a notebook, he jotted down 15 whys and hows on earache....

The medic met him outside his clinic. He eyed X suspiciously: dirty shoes, ripped jeans, frayed cuffs and collar, dog-eared notebook and a thoroughly masticated pen. Snapped he, "come next week."

X understood. Felt ashamed. Borrowed shoes, shirt, trousers and a pen for a day from friends and bought a brand new, leather-bound diary; wrote ‘X’ with deft strokes on the title page, penned the 15 whys and hows in a faultless hand.

The week after, he kept his appointment with the medic. The doctor studied him afresh. Grunted. Condescended to spare a few minutes.

X needed no further encouragement. He raised the first question. The doc shot a practised reply before X could get pen to paper. X coloured. Begged the doc to repeat the reply. The doc scowled but obliged. This time, X caught it — but only just! Learnt an important lesson: reporters cannot afford to cross their ‘t’s and dot their ‘i’s. He learnt it well.

Last seen, he was making paper planes for his niece out of his diary’s sheets!