Beyond…

Beyond…
Perhaps, a book could be judged by its cover, but not an artist by creative works, author by words, poet by verse and the least, a journalist by bylines!
Of course, why should anyone judge anybody, this could be the fundamental question. Notwithstanding, by basic nature, a human being, being a critique, ends up in becoming a critic, unknowingly.
You stumble upon some poetic lines which you find mesmerizing. Those prolific poetries can make you an ardent follower of the poet. You may long to see that poet in person and yes, s/he couldn’t be the person you could have ever imagined!
In the age of digital media, social networking could have been a great leveller to bridge the gap that lack of interpersonal communication creates and at the same time, it makes you vulnerable to public scrutiny.
‘You are being watched’ is the feeling that often greets you when you are on the watch out for stories, as a journalist. There you are. Enough of generalisation, let me be more specific. As a journalist, I end up writing on any topic under the sun, from real estate, finance, education, technology to wellbeing. Of course, a smart reader does understand that neither a journalist possesses domain knowledge of such a wide range of topics nor is it advisable to do so. As a professional author, your skill lies more in writing proficiently about subject matters you may not know much about.
Thus, people who ‘claimed’ to have read my stories presume my interest in the respective subject matter and take forward the conversation on that presumption. Here are they, convincing me about to write about reforms in education, streamlining required in real estate, measures to be taken for ‘smart’ cities and anything that they feel needs to be highlighted.
As you know, honest that I am, I would certainly clear the air surrounding my ‘expertise’ and dismiss it as ‘part of profession and nothing beyond’. As the luck would have it, not all are always ‘impressed’. A few are advising you to ‘expand’ your knowledge base! And there and some, waiting to see me ‘grow’ as a person beyond bylines!!
And I know, most of you could be sailing in the same boat. There are many judging you, based on your social networking posts, labeling you as leftist or rightist, communist and what not?
They would be the first ones, writing about the real and virtual life while judging others on cybernetic platforms.
The line between real and virtual had always been distinct, God help if your vision is blurred! The ideal person may just turn out to be an illusion, thanks your illusory impressions you formed based on virtual platforms.
There is a lot more to a person beyond the vast cannon of creations…
-KanChan

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