MONDAY Wake up groggy but guilt free. Have been up late completing the graphics for the Budget edition. The managing editor had sent a mail three weeks ago reminding us of our responsibilities for that critical day in every financial journalist’s life. A cheeky reply then seems childish now given how I’m way behind schedule. The morning edit meet is a breeze since the week’s schedule is pre-decided — one edit on the survey, one on the Railway Budget, a double on the Budget, a few after … Sadly, Lalu’s getting the better of the opposition on TV despite the Quattrocchi stuff, and his numbers seem rosy. I get a sinking feeling since, after his last effort, I’d done a piece saying his Jersey cow had run out of milk. No one brings it up, but I’m ready to pass on the buck to the experts who’d briefed me.
TUESDAY Life’s good. Our headline suggests the Jersey cow may indeed be running out of milk. I remind the managing editor about my piece. He nods appreciatively. We troop into the editor’s room to go over tomorrow’s plan. This is dicey. The man always has these last minute suggestions which mean you’ve got to re-work your numbers. Doctor Jain, he says, knowing fully well even the MA was difficult enough. That sinking feeling again. But he’s distracted since he’s late for another meeting.
WEDNESDAY A fried egg quells the queasiness, a bit. There’s all the graphs that need to be updated once the Budget numbers come out, but the larger problem is that neither the editor nor the managing editor will be in the office while the Budget’s being presented. In other words, how do we editors get our ‘line’, that single throwaway we impress the pretty young things with as our own? I rush out of the room with the graphics seemingly on my mind once the speech is over, ignoring the PYTs. The editor’s on TV, I see from the corner of my eye, saying the Budget’s a disappointment. I slow down a bit to talk of the ’80s-style budgeting. Do a small video-grab for the website. A 12-minute post-Budget interview with the FM goes off well — I think I’ve pinned him and a colleague who was in the interview convinces the editor I’ve done a good job, priming him even before he reads the piece. The dog-and-cat show, on the TVchannels in the background, gets worse.
THURSDAY A few hiccups. Ajay, who’s uploaded the video grab, asks me why a competitor’s product, and not ours, is lying prominently on the table when I’m giving gyaan on the Budget. Shit! Stupid photographer should have seen it. Fortunately the editor hasn’t either. There’s a mail from him congratulating us on the great job we’ve done and how it reflects the weeks of planning. There’s nothing specifically about the great graphics, the great interview … It’s obvious why — he doesn’t want the others to feel overshadowed. Perhaps I’ll ask him. But maybe it’s best to keep it our little secret.
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