Saturday, April 2, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, June 7, 2010
Review: ‘Audition: A Memoir’ by Barbara Walters
Over a decade in broadcasting then public relations, television again and back to PR. What exactly is my calling? Why this rather strange dalliance to figure out where I stood on this continuum of communication specialisations?
On a much needed sabbatical to figure it all out, I picked up this bean spilling memoirs of one of America’s television doyens. Picking out portions of this massive 600 page treatise by Barbara Walters spanning five decade, and it all resonates.
From a fledgling literature student grappling with content in a PR agency under William Safire( yes Nixon’s speech writer and New York Times language and political commentator) to producer, reporter, co-host to undisputed queen of television talk with ABC’s The View, Ms Walters has done it all!
Some would say what hubris! Yet, we’ve all experienced it too. That proverbial glass ceiling and terrible gender or skills bias that only finely honed social skills, persistence and sharp on-air reporting can breach. Every day IS an ‘Audition’
Due credit for recommending the book goes to Suhasini Haider a personal friend and one of India’s most poised TV anchors. I think she can vouch for all that it took to jostle among the aggressive and competitive talent to stand out.
You ask why I have dwelt on this personal brush with Walter’s memoirs, well that’s because for her it was never about her public persona, it is deeply personal.
In typical American candour Walter cuts to the chase, a difficult relationship with her nightclub owner father Lou, her differently-abled sister and troubled daughter both named Jacqueline, all frames of reference for three failed marriages, numerous affairs with America’s most famous Alan Greenspan, African-American senator Edward Brooke, and Liz Taylor's ex-husband John Warner.
Very Oprah( Oh yes Walters claims credit for Oprah phenomenal run) but Barbara Walters isn’t about wringing her hands in agony. She was and is a determined competitor. From the 5 am wake up calls to studio to the run across the globe to beat another great Walter Cronkite at that Anwar Sadat- Mechanim Begin interview that determined the course of peace in the Middle East
This is the part I love the most, the descriptions of her interactions with heads of state (she has interviewed more than thirty including the two Presidents Bush, Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi), film stars( Striesand, Hepburn, Bing Crosby and in equal measure, famous murderers and rapists(OJ Simpson). Walter’s is privy to the lives of so many of the world’s notorious, powerful and rich and famous. Sometimes she gets close and sometimes a little personal.
To quote The New York Times “Woe to the men who underestimated her, even in the days when she was the only woman writing for “Today” and wrote for the show’s only female on-the-air personality
To give some sense of just how much terrain “Audition” covers, these are some of its many index entries on the subject of interviewing: “with celebrities,” “with difficult people,” “with foreign heads of state,” “impossible-to-get,” “with murderers and alleged murderers,” “with presidents,” “with royalty” and “with people Walters could talk to again and again.”
For anyone looking for answers on a work-life balance, perhaps Ms Walter’s life is not all that exemplary, then again we’ve all done that haven’t we? The irregular hours, demands of our bosses and sometimes demands of others.
At one stage Walter’s asks why people think TV folks have all the answers and sit up and listen when they talk. Yes, we sometime ask those questions of our voluble channels here in India. But that’s not the point here, Walters has earned the respect - brickbats and bouquets -through sheer dint of poise and experience.
I took a break to get perspective. Barbara Walter’s memoirs certainly helped push things along. To be a success it is about taking a step back every now and then to ask the right questions of yourself.
On a much needed sabbatical to figure it all out, I picked up this bean spilling memoirs of one of America’s television doyens. Picking out portions of this massive 600 page treatise by Barbara Walters spanning five decade, and it all resonates.
From a fledgling literature student grappling with content in a PR agency under William Safire( yes Nixon’s speech writer and New York Times language and political commentator) to producer, reporter, co-host to undisputed queen of television talk with ABC’s The View, Ms Walters has done it all!
Some would say what hubris! Yet, we’ve all experienced it too. That proverbial glass ceiling and terrible gender or skills bias that only finely honed social skills, persistence and sharp on-air reporting can breach. Every day IS an ‘Audition’
Due credit for recommending the book goes to Suhasini Haider a personal friend and one of India’s most poised TV anchors. I think she can vouch for all that it took to jostle among the aggressive and competitive talent to stand out.
You ask why I have dwelt on this personal brush with Walter’s memoirs, well that’s because for her it was never about her public persona, it is deeply personal.
In typical American candour Walter cuts to the chase, a difficult relationship with her nightclub owner father Lou, her differently-abled sister and troubled daughter both named Jacqueline, all frames of reference for three failed marriages, numerous affairs with America’s most famous Alan Greenspan, African-American senator Edward Brooke, and Liz Taylor's ex-husband John Warner.
Very Oprah( Oh yes Walters claims credit for Oprah phenomenal run) but Barbara Walters isn’t about wringing her hands in agony. She was and is a determined competitor. From the 5 am wake up calls to studio to the run across the globe to beat another great Walter Cronkite at that Anwar Sadat- Mechanim Begin interview that determined the course of peace in the Middle East
This is the part I love the most, the descriptions of her interactions with heads of state (she has interviewed more than thirty including the two Presidents Bush, Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi), film stars( Striesand, Hepburn, Bing Crosby and in equal measure, famous murderers and rapists(OJ Simpson). Walter’s is privy to the lives of so many of the world’s notorious, powerful and rich and famous. Sometimes she gets close and sometimes a little personal.
To quote The New York Times “Woe to the men who underestimated her, even in the days when she was the only woman writing for “Today” and wrote for the show’s only female on-the-air personality
To give some sense of just how much terrain “Audition” covers, these are some of its many index entries on the subject of interviewing: “with celebrities,” “with difficult people,” “with foreign heads of state,” “impossible-to-get,” “with murderers and alleged murderers,” “with presidents,” “with royalty” and “with people Walters could talk to again and again.”
For anyone looking for answers on a work-life balance, perhaps Ms Walter’s life is not all that exemplary, then again we’ve all done that haven’t we? The irregular hours, demands of our bosses and sometimes demands of others.
At one stage Walter’s asks why people think TV folks have all the answers and sit up and listen when they talk. Yes, we sometime ask those questions of our voluble channels here in India. But that’s not the point here, Walters has earned the respect - brickbats and bouquets -through sheer dint of poise and experience.
I took a break to get perspective. Barbara Walter’s memoirs certainly helped push things along. To be a success it is about taking a step back every now and then to ask the right questions of yourself.
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Eloquence of ‘Love’
Sometimes they say writing helps you deal with the pain and the anguish.
As I do write, I know that this process for me has never been a very creative or lofty one; I usually prefer clarity and focus. Yet, why is it that my life hardly reflects that intellectual rigour.
It is a strange conundrum. An angel told me recently to stop analysing every failure and give in to the emotion ‘Cry if you want, rage and forgive’. I have done that too, am spent and now choose to put it all in perspective.
First up I have the most amazing family a man can wish for. Parents who god knows have had to deal with me being different. Two very strong sisters, primary influencers in my life. Brother in laws who are really brothers and nieces and a nephew who sometimes annoy me but more often than not, give me so much joy.
Guess seeing all this joy around me there is a tinge of envy. I want them around all the time. Though I know they are entitled to their lives and I have to get on with mine.
Then why is it that, when I do try, it’s back to square one?
That is where I deal with that central dilemma. How can someone with so much going for them, a family, intellect and superb friends always fall for the same thing?
Why, when I know the chase, romance and elation is hardly substantial I fall for that dangerously beguiling thing -‘love’
My central thesis is that despite all the rationale and counselling, I give in every time to the eloquence of ‘love’.
Love is what you do and not what you say.
A mantra I repeat each time I hear it and then I fall into the trap of letting the other off the hook, by doing everything to live up to it.
My latest grouse is that there have been some wonderful people I have overlooked, they were never good with the eloquence, and I chose someone who clearly mastered it.
Knowing it was wrong, knowing that person belonged to someone else.
As I fall into that abyss of feeling short changed, for the first time I realise I can have faith in my resilience.
I will put my shoulder to the grindstone and defy the world. At the end of the day I owe it to all of you.
For never giving me the empty eloquence of ‘love’.
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