Never Hesitate

Day 2 of #30DaysWritingChallenge: The best advice someone gave you.
This was a doozy, coz I could not for the life of me pinpoint to that one advice that takes the mantle of being the best. I've had hours of chats with some of my closest friends, acquaintances, teachers, family, and each one of them had droned advice after advice - sometimes for good, some for the worse.

Sometimes the best advice comes when you least expect it, and from people, you would least expect it from. The one advice that has stood me in good stead over the past few years has been - never hesitate. How did it come to be? Read on.

It was the start of a new magazine cycle, and the monthly team meet was on to decide who would do what stories. Me, being my lazy self, was able to chip in with my usual fluff pieces when my boss asked if I would like to do a story on the Ranji Trophy final. Sensing the mammoth task that lay before me, I hesitated. I said no, while my photographer friend took up the assignment to shoot it. Big mistake. It was the chance of a lifetime. Those working in newspapers are given such tasks after 8-10 years of beat coverage. And here I was, barely a year into my job and given such a remarkable story to do, and I said no.

After the rest of the stories had been assigned to the respective journalists, two wonderful colleagues came up to me and asked me why I hesitated. I told them that I did not know if I would be able to take up such a mammoth task. They asked me to take back that no. After a bit more push from my photographer friend, I took the courage to go up to my boss, and ask again for the very assignment I had put down.

Best. Decision. Ever. Although I was a rookie and had my apprehensions, I found that once I overcame the hesitation, it was a cakewalk (almost of sorts).  I say virtually of sorts because I had never in my life covered a cricket match before, let alone the final of a major Test tournament. I was completely lost after the first day since I didn't even know where to go and sit. Back at the hotel, I called my mentor and told him that I was all over the place. The first thing he asked me to do was to calm down, and then from there on, it was his pointers that guided me. And the rest, as they say, is history. Rajasthan won their second consecutive Ranji trophy, I got my story, and all was good with the world.

That story to this day, I feel is something I am awfully proud about. And it was also the first of my work, that didn't have to go through massive edits. The most awesome feeling was when I asked my boss if it needed any cuts after sending her the first draft, and she replied - "Nicely done". I was over the moon! A lovely fairytale ending to a tale that could never have been.

But all said and done, it was the advice to never hesitate to take that big or small step that stands in good stead for me to this day.

(P.S.: You know who you all are that I have mentioned in this write-up. Thank you for believing in me!)