On Entering a New World

Manisha’s email for comments on last week’s training programme reminded me of a promise I’d made, and sort of spurred me on to post this piece.

 

Editing, in its limited meaning, is not new to me. I have been on the editorial boards of my school and college magazines, and as a teacher, the process of correcting papers has involved characteristics of editing (although, not in such detail). I have also had the honour of editing short pieces of work by friends of mine, and giving them reviews and feedback. And, in all honesty, when I joined Pearson, I thought that that was generally what my work load would entail.

 

I couldn’t, for the life of me, quite understand how one could review work constantly for eight hours a day, five days a week for months and years. True, logic and commonsense stated that there had to be more to editing than mere textual corrections, but what that more was was something I couldn’t even begin to fathom. That is, until I attended the training programme in Delhi.

 

I came prepared for a complete introduction to editing. But what it turned out to be was something quite different. I’m not complaining, though. It was fascinating to see so many minds at work on something that is still, in many ways, alien to me. I felt like I was in a different dimension. Truly, my experience, I think, was rather surreal. If you’ve ever been in the middle of a college staff-room discussion, you might have an inkling as to what I mean. I could draw absolutely no parallels, and, if it did not hit home before, it did then when I realised that I had a great deal to learn about being an editor, and that it was a job that entailed so much more than mere nit-picking.

 

Before the meeting, Rohit had asked me how I found the job so far, and I had said that it was so much like correcting papers. After Reflections I realised that it was a far cry from that!

 

Apart from all that I learned and came to realise, I was also pleased to meet so many lovely people. I was amazed at the incredibly warm welcome I received, and the way I was made to feel so much a part of everything that was going on, when, in actuality, I had been prepared to be the proverbial wallflower that fades into the background. It says much, I think, for such hospitality that makes you feel special and like you have something to contribute. Also, the energetic atmosphere, and lively and healthy arguments and discussions that took place during the programme were like a breath of fresh air to someone who has been starved of such encounters and challenges.

 

I could also see how, to everyone in the team, work was hard work and play was play. It was a real relief to know that I wouldn’t be losing a part of myself to the drudgery of work (in the teaching line there is not much scope for losing your identity unless you very very consciously choose to) because it was so clear that no one else seemed to have lost themselves either. If anything, I saw a passion for editorial work and a zest for living, and I if ever I needed inspiration for a job like this, I believe I got quite a big and good dose of it during the programme.

 

Bottom line, I’m incredibly glad to be a part of this company (pun intended) and I hope to give my very best and more.

 

All the very best to each and every one of you!^_^

 

Sariga