After several days of the sun being a spoilsport the town of Bournemouth finally showed signs of a sunny day pulling people out of their houses. An alien land; for me it was just another new day and the first thing that's on my mind is to rush to the single bathroom in the 5-bedded-house at the Bournemouth University campus. Any delay would see me waiting until the others could clear the bathroom eventually pushing my schedule on the back foot not only for the media class but also, brace yourselves, for washing dishes - a nightmare which is coming true for me now, simply owing to the fact that I am no cook. – Alas! I cannot escape the anger of Veer Raghav (a colleague from CNN IBN- Chennai) - our main chef since he doesn't like an untidy kitchen and inviting his ire means missing home cooked food - which I have started missing like anything.
To take off for a bit and acquaint you about where I am, I put up at the student village, house no. 29; a mere stone's throw away from the Bournemouth Media School with five colleagues - Veer Raghav whom I introduced to you earlier, Jajati Karan (Special Correspondent; CNN IBN - Orissa), Deborshi Chaki (Principal Correspondent; CNN IBN – Guwahati) and Chayan Kundu (Special correspondent; Zee News - Kolkata.)
Getting back to where I left off, I rushed to the classroom, dressed in jeans, a cream t-shirt and a blazer, thinking that I was late for the day, but to my relief I saw my colleagues sitting on the second floor verandah - as the room was still locked. Being VERY much aware of my friends being capable of goof ups - I walked into the room to find our course director waiting for us. Jajati had mistaken the closed room as being locked.
Day 3 was for camera work and today all of us (5 boys and 5 girls) - were escorted to the city centre park for a new lesson – "How to shoot vox pops?" A lesson of the basics but when we handled the camera ourselves – My first resolution was to ever never shout at my cameraman back home. It is damn complicated to set the lights right with the aperture and the frame when the sun is hell bent on playing a game of hide and seek.
My project partner Neha Bhatnagar; an anchor in Aaj Tak and Headlines Today and a well known face in India is the youngest scholar in the course and would be turning 26 this September. I have a soft corner for her for reasons unknown and she never hesitates to ask questions however silly they may be. She makes me realize how important it is to come forward and clear your issues when in doubt.
Neha and I sat near the Bournemouth Eye; a huge air balloon, with Neha fiddling with the camera to get the adjustments right. She went all out and approached people and convinced them to talk to us for our brief project - on camera work. After and effortful hour we complete our project and Neha, as usual enthusiastically used the remaining time to familiarize herself with the camera by shooting a few more sequences. When we got back to where the others had been waiting, I learnt my first lesson - Brits hate running late. So be punctual! Nevertheless, Gail Foley- our course leader took the three of us back to the university in her convertible - this drive gave a lovely feeling which inspired me to take out my cell phone and click a few shots while on the move. Gail looked cool while Maha and Neha posed for some snaps for me.
Once back at the media school – the 'vox pop's shoots were reviewed. Andrew - the camera instructor- liked the various shoots to a certain extent and appreciated us for showing improvement.
We had to let go of a screening session as we were getting late for the day.
Jajati rushed to the room as it was his turn to cook and Pawan bali (CNN IBN Jammu) was kind enough to offer me hot tea. Pawan is kind of person one would like to spend time with and never be bored. An intelligent woman with a lot of affection and emotions bundled up but at the same time a strong configuration of humanity- in simple terms she knows her character as a human being.
Veer Raghav walked into the girl's room which falls just opposite our house and started humming some lovely Hindi songs making us feel that we are back home in India. To save the day Pawan was quick enough to put on some music on her laptop as Veer Raghav - a Tam Braham - as we call him was getting out sorts sipping at his peg of whiskey.
Day 3 was for camera work and today all of us (5 boys and 5 girls) - were escorted to the city centre park for a new lesson – "How to shoot vox pops?" A lesson of the basics but when we handled the camera ourselves – My first resolution was to ever never shout at my cameraman back home. It is damn complicated to set the lights right with the aperture and the frame when the sun is hell bent on playing a game of hide and seek.
My project partner Neha Bhatnagar; an anchor in Aaj Tak and Headlines Today and a well known face in India is the youngest scholar in the course and would be turning 26 this September. I have a soft corner for her for reasons unknown and she never hesitates to ask questions however silly they may be. She makes me realize how important it is to come forward and clear your issues when in doubt.
Neha and I sat near the Bournemouth Eye; a huge air balloon, with Neha fiddling with the camera to get the adjustments right. She went all out and approached people and convinced them to talk to us for our brief project - on camera work. After and effortful hour we complete our project and Neha, as usual enthusiastically used the remaining time to familiarize herself with the camera by shooting a few more sequences. When we got back to where the others had been waiting, I learnt my first lesson - Brits hate running late. So be punctual! Nevertheless, Gail Foley- our course leader took the three of us back to the university in her convertible - this drive gave a lovely feeling which inspired me to take out my cell phone and click a few shots while on the move. Gail looked cool while Maha and Neha posed for some snaps for me.
Once back at the media school – the 'vox pop's shoots were reviewed. Andrew - the camera instructor- liked the various shoots to a certain extent and appreciated us for showing improvement.
We had to let go of a screening session as we were getting late for the day.
Jajati rushed to the room as it was his turn to cook and Pawan bali (CNN IBN Jammu) was kind enough to offer me hot tea. Pawan is kind of person one would like to spend time with and never be bored. An intelligent woman with a lot of affection and emotions bundled up but at the same time a strong configuration of humanity- in simple terms she knows her character as a human being.
Veer Raghav walked into the girl's room which falls just opposite our house and started humming some lovely Hindi songs making us feel that we are back home in India. To save the day Pawan was quick enough to put on some music on her laptop as Veer Raghav - a Tam Braham - as we call him was getting out sorts sipping at his peg of whiskey.
It has been a long Wednesday and I have to hit the bed as tomorrow sure is going to be another long one. But it promises to be an interesting one as we will be moving to Southampton for a visit to a radio station and shoot a story at a local restaurant as part of our programme. Well I have promises to keep before I sleep so see you tomorrow!
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