Conversations

Describe yourself, says he.
I say: I am an honest person, with a hunger for knowledge and a fascination for writing.

Honest? how? Please explain.
I don't lie. While I am talking casually to other people, it doesn't even occur to me that they may be lying about anything. To my mind, lying is not an option.

What kind of a journalist does that make you?
I am talking about casual encounters, situations in which I am not likely to be on my guard. If I am going out to do a story I would take everything with just the right amount of salt, rest assured.

It's a bit hard to believe. Since circumspection and alertness is part of a journalist's life. Who knows where you can spot a story brewing that you may miss in case your guard was down.
It serves as a retreat. When my guard is down, i am more likely to be in trusted company. The kind of mistrust needed to spot brewing stories may destroy life if it is turned on round  the clock. In addition, spotting a story is something one does on an unconscious level first before it takes shape. That's part of our training.
I wouldnt say there are no disadvantages of not suspecting people of lying, but they are and have been limited to personal life so far.
In fact, for survival purposes, I am more aware of my shortcoming as I go out in the field, so when my guard is up, it's up real high.

Ok. Now explain hunger for knowledge. I see you have not termed it a 'nose for news' or 'curiosity extreme'. Why hunger and why knowledge? Why not curiosity for news?
It is what I say it is. A hunger for knowledge. Signifies an emptiness accompanied by a restlessness for fulfillment. I feel an emptiness within me that can only be filled by knowledge. Knowledge of issues, in depth. Know more, somehting commands from within.

No curiosity can match this hunger. I am not curious about people's private lives, scandals and statistics. I am hungry for knowledge that leads one to the root of things, the foundations on which structures are standing. In the pursuit, people don't matter much, competition is inadmissible and your view expands to engulf the universe in the blink of an eye.

And fascination for writing. It's just that. A fascination. I won't call it a passion. It's laborious sitting down to write. Writing to free your mind, writing to vent, these are all good ideas, but the mental exertion and struggle involved each time is not pleasurable. I wish I could write effortlessly and I am fascinated by those who can.

I wonder what he should say next.