FIRST STORY IN THE DISTANT LAND

Columbia, MO:

They say, bylines are to journalists what Marijuana is to addicts. So very true.

Here's my first story at the Missourian:

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/04/25/farmers-market-reaches-out-low-income-neighbors/

Doing it though was more challenging. John Schneller, my editor at the Missourian, gave me a handout about farmers market celebrating Neighbor Appreciation Day. It was not a story but a handout - actually an email between two of his students.

I explored the story in the given time limit. Found it quite interesting. It's very heartening to learn that the farmers are trying to reach out to their black low-income neighbors. Will it happen in India? No guesses!

Our mandis or farmers' markets are pretty secular to a large extent. They do not restrict or discriminate buyers on class or caste lines.

Consumers in India are more aware of fresh food, though packaged food is catching up with yuppies and elites in big cities. Here there's a reverse trend.

Fresh and locally grown organic food is now emerging as the first choice for well-to-do Americans waking up to the health disasters scripted by their fast food joints. A journalist -- I forget his name -- has written an astonishing book called Fast Food Nation. It's a very well researched treatise of the fast food's contribution to health problems in America. An eye opener of what people eat when they eat this junk!

Farmers markets are making a come back every where in the US. What's heartening though if that they are aware about who's coming and who's not to shop with them. It is not from the commercial stand point, but from the health perspective that they want more and more people to eat what they grow in the neighborhoods.

I enjoyed doing the story; it was kind of exploration. When you connect with people, you open avenues of future dialogue. You make friends. Any amount of technology and gadgets won't teach you that in journalism. That's the beauty.

At the core, ultimately, is the understanding of human race and mind. And as my Chinese counterpart Zhiming "Diego" Xin puts it, "We haven't done a good job with it -- understanding of human psychology and sentiment in writing stories."