Asian News Blog

A lot of people make many presumptions about my job. The first one is that I sit at my desk making stories up (if only it was that easy - the chances are if I chose to do this I won't be in any job), secondly many think that i'm in a very dangerous job and that my life is at risk everyday - which is one reason I pay a much higher rate on my car insurance than non-journalists - but 95 per cent of the time I am usually in safe hands though I do think how exciting it would be if that was the case. And thirdly people think I have such an exciting life because I get to meet the stars!

YES, meeting stars can be exciting, YES I do get starstruck and YES sometimes I think "you know what being a journalist is great". But sometimes when your stood only a few feet away from Bollywood biggest star and you can't get a one to one interview it can also get VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY frustrating.

I was invited to the IIFA (Indian Oscars) curtain raiser yesterday at the Civic Hall in Leeds. Guest speaker and ambassador of the IIFA ceremony Amitabh Bachchan was also there.

I went along to the press conference, heard what all the speakers had to say including the Big B himself who I am no longer too mesmerised by! The first time I saw him a few years ago I had to pinch myself after finding myself stood opposite him. A few months ago he was sat in the aisle below me, if I had reached my hand out I could have touched his hair, and believe me it took a lot of will power to stop me from taking out a strand and putting it in my portfolio.

Well this was my third time and I am no longer in that stage where I want to grab hold of him. Mr Bachchan very much looks the same as he does on TV, but yesterday he looked very very tired after the journey to Leeds from London early yesterday morning.

After the press conference was over, it was time for all the journalists from the various papers, magazines, radio and TV stations to mull around all desperate to get a one to one, me included.

Now I wish it was that easy, but there wee about 50 reporters and Mr Bachchan had less than an hour to do the interviews. We all tried clamouring to the beginning of the queue (imagine 14-year-old teenage girls trying to get John Abraham's autograph)! Everybody was desperate to get even just one question in, after all we were dealing with a Bollywood legend! So we wait, and wait and wait. But Mr Bachchan has to go and launch the IIFA cafe and is already late, he is alo tired and we are told, "sorry guys but maybe next time." Frustrated, those of us who didn't manage to get a one-to-one head out wondering if that is what we are to expect when the actual four-day extravaganza begins in June!

Now it's not too bad for me, I only had to travel from Rochdale, but I felt sorry for the two journalists who had travelled all the way from Glasgow that morning. Now that's a long way to travel and not get anything! But that's just part and parcel of the job, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you can be waiting around for hours and you don't get the one to one you so desperately wanted.

Also sometimes being a journalist from a regional paper, we're not treated as "special" as let's say a BBC reporter who is about to go live in 5 minutes. I am not saying this was the situation yesterday but it's often the case. I have been to countless events were print journalists get left to do the interviews till last and often by then we've got less than 5 minutes to conduct an interview and by that time all the print journalists have to clamber together, which means we all leave with the same questions and answers and almost identical stories follow in the papers.

So, a message to organisers of any events, please give us print journalists a chance - we are just s important as TV and radio if not more - so let us have our one to ones, TV and radio will no doubt get theirs and we'll all be happy!

Pictures by Faddy from Desi Malai!