New Indian Express reporter talks to students

Reported by Anita Srinivasan and Priyanka Aadith

Vincent D'Souza began the day with a reading of a few news reports from The Hindu and then took the students on a journey through the newspaper. The class discussed the various types of articles that were placed on each page of the paper, and spoke of the role of sub-editors and designers.

Vincent went on to explain, in detail, the importance of a sub-editor in a newspaper, being the processor of information coming from the many sources outlined in the previous class.

Our guest for the day was New Indian Express reporter Priyamvatha.P. She began the second session with an informal introduction and went on to draw the students' attention to the article about the Koovagam festival for transgenders. 'The Hindu' had reported this event and that article had been read by Anita Srinivasan the previous day, and incidentally, Priyamvatha had been covering the same story for the Express.

In order to achieve a complete understanding of the festival, Priyamatha began by discussing transgenders and their problems, amid a few giggles from some students. The Koovagam festival for transgenders is the only one of its kind in the world, she said, and so transgenders from all over the world attend it. She also told the students the story of how Krishna took the form of a woman (Mohini) to marry Aravanan, Arjuna's son, to fulfil his last wish of experiencing married life for a day, as he was to be sacrificed, for the Pandavas to win the Mahabharata war.

The festival takes place annually in the Tamil month of Chitrapournami, where thousands of transgenders are 'married' to the Lord. Besides this ceremony, they also participate in fashion shows and compete for titles like 'Rani of Aravani' and 'Miss Koovagam'. Priyamvatha went on to narrate her experience covering the 3-day festival, right from the long drive to Villupuram where the transgenders were staying, to the phase of 'mock widowhood' for the transgenders at the end of the festival. She simultaneously explained to the students the difficulties she faced filing stories and staying in unsafe areas after dark to get interviews from transgenders.

There was a 10-minute question and answer session where the students quizzed Priyamvatha on the best colleges and career paths for journalism.

Contact Priyamvatha on her mobile phone at: 98414 04789. E-mail: priyamjourna@yahoo.co.in