RAHUL KANWAL FROM AAJ TAAK on Media Journalism

That sunny face who cheerfully anchors the breakfast news of AAJ TAK - (with smart, intelligent and curious repartees to make you sit up and notice the newsreader for once) was in AWC to talk to the Higher Command officers about media strategy and interraction - He is Rahul Kanwal , an APS Daulakuan product and also an army brat .Barely in his late twenties and rather cute and young to be a veteran to talk about serious issues,Rahul infact took every one by surprise .It was such a pleasure to watch his innocent face light up and speak delightfully about the thing he is most passionate about "Journalism"- Later in the afternoon he spoke to the children as well , ethusing them about media journalism , how service siblings are a cut above the rest and can easily fit into its very demanding roles(from being a reporter to an anchor or even producer etall)

“All your life you move around so much, learn so much about different places and make so many friends that you are already equipped with the necessary skills of communication, a spirit of adventure and easy adaptability” , he said – all of which go a long way to honing your journalistic temperament -( no wonder then the media is infested with army brats today, Rahul confirmed), "Another definite plus is our ability to use two languages Hindi and English fluently" – “You just cannot ignore the vernacular as it is the language of the mass”. As an anchor or reporter you definitely win some brownie points if you can make yourself indispensable in handling both the languages with equal ease

So where do we begin?

Firstly "don’t ignore your Hindi "even if you hate it right now. Remember it is a friend in disguise.
"Participate as often as possible in declamations and debates" . It will help you get over your inhibition as a speaker.
“Take out time to play, Just a Minute, which help you become more articulate in times to come.” Speaking on a random topic for a minute without having to scratch your head for the thoughts to flow, without pauses, without making any grammatical error, may seem like a monumental task at first, but can come easy with a little practice.
“Also read up on your areas of interest as much as you can.” Not just knowledge, but expert knowledge is what gives you the necessary confidence to arbitrate, comment or aggressively persuade a subject . It can come only from extensive reading and culling valuable information over the years.
Finally be really passionate about something and explore your limits of creativity...

Well Rahul we are so grateful to you for sharing with us your daredevil stories – the time you hid under a thicket with terrorists while the BSF marched pass, for instance. They were so inspiring. And thank you for getting the kids started with some valuable nuggets to ponder on.