Service

Service, whatever form it takes, is the flow of love from one human being to another. This desire to share is our basic nature. Sincere giving -- without any expectation of return -- breaks the boundaries of conditional love and expands our ability to love every human being unconditionally.

Service is the expression of love. Serve in whatever possible manner you can. Ask yourself, "How can I be useful to people around me, and to the whole world?" Then your heart starts blossoming and a completely new level begins. Otherwise we're always thinking, "What about me, what about me?" It's nothing! Ask, "How can I be useful, how can I give to the world?" The best seva is helping someone to understand this eternal nature of life.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Week Twelve: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Monday I walked in to work for my afternoon shift at 3p.m. and Susan, one of the head bookers, sent me an email asking, “Are you working the evening shift today?” I told her I was. She responded, “Great, I really need your help. I’ll come by and fill you in around 5.” A few hours later Susan came by my desk and asked me to follow her to the break room. We walked in, preparing our separate cups of coffee, and I felt less like an intern and very much like a colleague as she told me that today I would be in charge of welcoming, ‘mic’ing, and assigning the guests to their posts; basically, I was supposed to take over Susan’s job once she got the guests booked. This was a huge deal considering interns are very rarely trusted enough to do this! Since she had guests taping up to the show at various locations across the nation, she needed someone to take over her role here for the night.

Needless to say, I was excited, yet more than a little nervous. One mistake here could truly mess up the order of the show and the availability of the guests for future shows. Susan made sure I understood this and felt the weight that any little mistake could cost. I went back to my desk and made a list of facts I needed to know about both the guests. I also made sure I knew where I would need to meet at security, walked the path to make-up and mikes, introduced myself to the make-up room as well as the technical aids, and contacted front desk to give them my desk’s phone number; this way they could contact me directly when the guests where here and Susan would not have to be disturbed. I pulled it off, somehow, without any major mistakes. I got a little nervous speaking to the guests and almost forgot to offer them tea and coffee, but everything flowed pretty well. Susan was very pleased! She thanked me in front of the entire team the next morning at the staff meeting. I was very excited. Yet, amidst all these positives, a step backward was inevitable when it came.

While at work I was finishing my class presentation, reviewing some final details, and somehow lost the entire thing! I rebuilt five slides by 5:30 pm when I would usually leave for class. At the same time, my boss came to me and said I would get to time out the show for the day, as a reward for my work yesterday. I was ecstatic, nervous, and anxious all at the same time. I had not paid much attention to the run-down since 4pm when I had lost my presentation. This was also the day I was supposed to present. I sent an email, pretty last minute and got excused from the presentation for the day, of course with penalty. Then I spent the next hour quickly learning the entire run-down, but even then I felt as if I wasn’t fully comfortable with it. My boss said it wouldn’t be too bad; I would have a PA with me. So, I timed out the show, somehow not completely screwing up, though I almost added a minute extra twice had not the PA been there to correct me. It was a hectic day with a hectic ending and the upcoming week had yet more challenges.

Week Eleven: Revisiting an Ordinary Week

Not much happened this week, or so it seemed as compared to the newness of the weeks’ prior. I had gotten the routine of the days down and was comfortable in my environment. It seemed as though New York life had made a place for me. Especially at work, I was in my comfort zone. I walked in every morning or afternoon, depending on the day, logged into the server and sent out an email asking the team what, if anything, they needed my help on. Sometimes emails came back right away saying, “glad you’re here, can you help me with…” other times I sat there, for what seemed like hours, reading and catching up on any news I had missed, just in case I got asked to help with something. I didn’t want to be unaware of what was going on.

Monday slowly crept by. Others seemed to be busy but there was very little extra work to do. I ran a couple of errands, did a few web rolls, and answered a few phone calls. Nothing to exciting. Come Tuesday, I thought things have to speed up today based on the velocity of work I had done yesterday. Yet, nothing seemed to come my way until mid-day. We had heard last week, right before I headed out to Dallas, that Christiane was leaving CNN. She had taken on an offer with ABC to anchor the evening news there. It was a hard transition for many at CNN, considering Amanpour has been with the network for 27 years. Yet, the transition seemed necessary for her personal life to which she had devoted very little time over the last few decades.

The drastic changes at the Amanpour show, that come with the elimination of an entire show and its team, eventually had a direct impact on the Campbell Brown show. Our executive producer who makes the final decisions on hiring and whom we had been getting to know over the last few months, was leaving the show to be replaced by the producer of the Amanpour show. Our EP was actually getting promoted to Director of evening programming to be based out of Atlanta. However, this was bitter news for us, the interns. All the work we had done and everything she had seen happen were gone with her. We now had to start all over with a new Executive Producer.

I didn’t realize this at the time, but it ended up being a positive for me. Katherine O’Hearn, the EP for the Amanpour show who was now taking over the Campbell Brown show, actually remembered me! I had initially wanted to intern on that show and got an offer, one day after Campbell Brown made me an offer. According to protocol, they could not then take me away from the Campbell Brown show; however, I could work on the Amanpour show the days I wasn’t at CB. However, those fell few and far between. But Katherine remembered me from those few times. The first day she was on the CB show, I was asked to help her organize her office. When she came back about 45 minutes later, I had all her files organized alphabetically; I had organized her drawers according to the framework she left, and had uncluttered all the associated mess. She was very happy with me and said, “I remember your application for the Amanpour show. Wish you had been part of our permanent team there. I like your attitude even when you’re given tasks which I’m sure aren’t the reason you took the internship.” As a sort of reward, she sent me down to watch the final taping of the Amanpour show, saying she needed a few of her things as she winked at me from the corner of her eye. A wide smile spread across my face. When I went downstairs and met Christiane, I felt elated to be in the presence of my life-long, professional role model.

The rest of the week went by without too much to do, however, it was exciting to know that the EP knew my name and appreciated my attitude. I hope to keep it up!

Week Ten: Some Work, More Play

I only worked three days this week, as it was the week of my cousin, Sanam’s wedding. However, it just those three days I saw how the last few weeks had paid off. People asked for me by name. Emailed me with work before I could ask if anyone needed anything. It gave me a sense of comfort to know that they felt I was reliable, that I got the work done. I worked the evening shift on Monday, meaning I got to stay through the show, which starts at 9 p.m.

Whenever I work the evening shows, I feel that I get a lot more experience into how things happen, since we get to know the actual tools that go into formatting and running the show as it’s on television. On this day, I got to attend the show. This meant that I got to sit in the studio as the show was on air. I saw how the camera crew works, how breaks work, how to make adjustments when things change in the show. I also got to see how the producers time-out the show and calculate changes in adjustment. Whenever something changed, I got to be the go-between, filling in the rest of the team on what the producers changed and how it affected their segments. Even though it was a small task in the greater realm of production, I felt trusted and efficient and kind of reluctant to leave for even a few days. I didn’t want to lose that credibility and consistency that I had built here. Tuesday and Wednesdays I work the early shift.

Sometimes it’s slower in the mornings, but this Tuesday we had a packaging class led by one of the show producers. This is the position right under the executive producer. So these guys really know what they are doing, and interns were allowed to attend! During the class we analyzed and learned the difference between great packages and mediocre ones, what stories catch attention and what maintains viewer interest, we also learned important tools such as how and when to interview, when to use a quote, how to elicit responses for the questions you want answered, and how to edit the package to where the flow of the video follows the flow of the story. This was a great meeting, and I think the notes really helped me in understanding broadcast story writing better than I ever had before. I’m more used to writing for print, and this class clarified for me the similarities and differences between broadcast script and print.

As Wednesday ended, I packed for my journey the next day. My flight for Dallas left at 7pm that day, and I made it there safely around 11pm heading straight to my cousin’s house for the Mehndi, henna application, ceremony. As I walked in, I felt a wave of elation as all my cousins, aunts, and uncles came running to me with hugs and kisses. I felt that same sort of belongingness the rest of the week as the wedding festivities continued. The passionate ambition of New York and the intimate familiarity of Texas began an inner battle within me that weekend. I returned on Monday hesitant to leave my family yet excited to get back to the news process.

Week Ten Continued: Childhood memories come full circle...

For as long as I can remember, my best friends have been my cousins. I truly feel lucky and inspired to have lived the childhood I did. I would only wish the same upon future generations: to have such a loving and caring family where fun and excitement lead to growth and love. I don't know who I'd be if it hadn't been for the family I had growing up. I truly believe this is what our generation needs: a devoted, committed, and loving family that can gently show us our own flaws and teach us how to reach beyond them and aspire to greater heights.

At Sanam's wedding at little over a month ago (wow can't believe it's already been that long) I realized more why even distance and time cannot separate the Hooani bond. It is truly something special that we have all come to appreciate, whether we understand it or not. This weekend was very special for all of us since, as we grow older we seem to have less and less time to spend with one another as new familial ties are formed and responsibilities added. I was anticipating my arrival to Dallas on the entire journey from New York, thinking through how it would be to see the entire family gathered in front of me when I arrived. When I landed, my heart skipped a beat. I could FEEL the sensation of being HOME. A small word that means much more than a house or a room, a word that allows me to feel myself as I truly am, in the comfort of the people that matter the most.

Dad picked me up from the airport and we headed to Carrolton. We pulled into Eagle point Drive and the plethora of cars displayed in front of me allowed my imagination to merge with reality. We were here. This is it, I thought, Sanam is getting married. We had talked about this day ever since we were 9 years old and our mom's bought us the same training bras (LOL, remember that?). "When we get married, its going to be..." or "Well we still have 10 years before we have to worry about marriage..." Ah, where does time fly? I was thinking through these conversations as I entered 1512 Eagle point drive: a place I had entered so many times before, but one that was now filled with the bright colors and sounds of wedding time. I walked in and was instantly clouded by faces of cousin after cousin, relative after relative, as a jubilant, "Samreen!!" rang through the hall. I had the biggest smile on my face and a few tears in my eyes. I hugged tightly nearly every member of our over-sized family, feeling the warmth and joy present in the ambiance. Then I went and hugged Sanam, and though neither of us expected it, the years of friendship and trust came pouring out in tears; rolling down our eyes as we embraced the moment in each other's embrace. This was the beginning of a new life, a marriage, as we had discussed so many times before over the last few decades. It was time. Our lives that had slowly been shifting away from each other for all these years, but this moment was one to embrace the light of the future, with a realization that distance doesn't mean separation. We played antakshari and laughed, caught up, and remembered old times. Overall, the mehndi was beautifully done: very intimate and elegant, simple yet decadent.

But that was just the beginning of the traditional wedding ceremonies. We still had busy days and sleepless nights ahead of us. That night we began practicing our dance performances. At every wedding in the family, there are five of us that ALWAYS dance. And this was going to be the first wedding when one of that five was getting married. So, we decided to do a tribute of all our old songs as a memory of the times we had danced together. You would think that rehearsing old dances could only take so long, but we were up till 6 in the morning AGAIN just trying to remember and synchronize all our old moves. LOL. :) It was actually pretty exciting and so much fun to go through and try to recall how we did it the first time. It probably took longer because we kept getting distracted by remembering old memories and creating new ones in those very moments.

The next day was the Pithi ceremony and the night of our big performance. We were still practicing in the hallway of fun asia as guests entered and ate and got ready to be entertained. I'm so glad we decided to start with mine and Sanam's oldest songs. It brought back the years of friendship in a matter of a few seconds. Sanam was my first true best friend. And as happens with best friends, we had our differences and our disarray. But, as happens with family, we always came back to trust that this was more than friendship. That relationship really brought all of us together allowing us to understand each other's quirks, but appreciating the differences nonetheless. Realizing, its the quirks and the oddities that bring us closer.

All of this came together on the day of the satada when the slideshow and the circle of inside jokes really reminded us of how much we've been through together. Even though we picked really sad songs in the slideshow (DUH) I think we would've teared up despite the music. I mean just seeing the pictures from middle school could have brought tears of embarrassment to anyone lol. As we sat from oldest to youngest and remembered at least one fun memory we had together, we all felt the strength of our relationship, the commitment we all have to our family and the fun and laughter that binds it all together. So, this may be excessively cheesy, but it has to be sad. I mean you have to cry at a Satada, DUH! Some things never change: of course, when Hushu spilled the coke, no one was surprised. And when Dadabapa started coming after us with CHUNA, we knew to run! :)

But in the end, I just hope that as we all grow up, living our own independent lives, we not only remember our past and cherish it, but we also make an effort to relive it!

At least those parts that don't deal with stained carpets and crying at weddings...

Week Nine: Yet Another Lesson

iNews is the system we use to create a show, and this week I got to learn all about it. It may not seem like it, but 10 hours is barely enough to create a one-hour show on primetime. Our production team consists of writers, editors, production assistants, associate producers, segment producers, graphics, video editors, bookers, and many more people that do a variety of tasks. Each segment of the show is approximately 6 minutes and we've usually got 8 segments every night. Each segment has a unique overlay, including various voice-overs, SOT's, text boxes, panels, etc. This means that each segment producer is in charge of making that 6-minute production the most challenging, catchy, clear, concise, and exciting as they can.

In the morning production meeting, it is decided which segments will cover which aspects of the news. Then, the segment producer, along with his or her team, gathers data, facts, quotes, videos, interviews, and potential guests for the show in order to make that piece of news exciting and innovative for the viewers. This is the production method of broadcast journalism. All of this work, and the actual formatting of the show happens on the iNews program.

I walked into the class, opened up the program and stared at the screen, utterly confused. All I saw where random boxes and folders with no mental map for me to follow. Our trainer started with the specifics, telling us what defined each area and how all these random tools were interconnected. That gave me immediate clarity. I saw how the tools functioned with one another to create a programming tool that could be used by an entire production team without confusing overlap. We were then asked to create model segments of shows so that we could practice writing script, packaging content, writing server commands, and inserting video commands all into iNews. Unless all this is done properly, the show will not air clearly. When we see an anchor toss to video, there is a specific command for that. Or when a SOT is heard, the server has to call that up according to a command function. After learning all these tools, I better understood how television production happens and why sustaining viewership is important.

Outside of work, this week was a very community heavy time. I delivered content in the Jamat Khana and I was able to focus my energies on sustaining my school and work side, while not losing touch with the aspect of faith. Some weeks this is harder, but this week the balance felt natural. I was very in touch with the faith of my work and the work in my faith, if that makes sense. Everything seemed to have a purpose. I was even able to make some time to help remotely prepare for my cousin Sanam's wedding the following week. And as the week ended, I was ready to head out and encounter the Hooda family back in Texas!

Week Eight: As the World Turns...

"Today I want you to shadow a PA (Production Assistant) to see how segments of the show are put together," my boss told me. So I went over to the huddle of PA's and asked if I could shadow one of them. It was the perfect week for me to do so, as the PA's are the ones who do most of the research and video collaboration for the show, and this week, the Texas gubernatorial race was on. I knew a little more about this than most of the PA's, being Texan and all.

So I began helping with the 100 block, which is the first segment of the show. It is referred to as the Mash-up because it's the segment during which we take major news stories of the week and mash them together to create a 3 minute collaboration of what the viewers need to know. We were focusing on the issue with Senator Bunning which was upholding the renewal of unemployment benefits. I searched for compelling video of all the coverage for the week on this issue. I also logged and scripted some of the video and compiled important text. Along with this, I got to do research on the Texas race: who is likely to win, who is running, what do each of the candidates stand for, what are the odds of each winning. All of these were relevant questions and the angle could go in many directions. Thus, I began to dwell into my own research, making sure I was focused on the end goal, without losing sight of exciting details that may make the story more palpable for viewers.

After the end of a long and mentally draining day, I watched the show air. And though I played a very small part in the process of gathering facts and putting the show together, it was very exciting to see some of my research and words end up on air. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and completion. I felt alive and passionate to be a part of the process of free media and the press. A process that I hope to continue and be a part of even after this semester. At least that's the goal!