FREEDOM FIRSTS

Everyone has to begin somewhere. And these are the first-ever firsts that changed our lives forever

- Pablo

MEETING: Late July, 2003. I show up to the Business Standard office, nervous as all hell. Bijoy, Motoring editor, has told me that he'd like to hire me, but the final say lies with Haseeb Drabu, the paper's resident editor in Mumbai; I'm to be introduced to him. Bijoy invites me into his cabin, and we chat, waiting for Drabu to call us; I think we discuss arthouse cinema, if memory serves me right. Bijoy's phone rings - it's Drabu. 'Come on,' Bijoy says, and leads me up to the fourth floor. Drabu is waiting next to the lift door when we step out. He looks at me but doesn't say anything; I notice his diamond earring. He and Bijoy light up cigarettes; after a couple of deep drags, he says to Bijoy, 'The fellow wears an earring. Hire him.' And that's that I'm a Motoring team member.

DAY AT WORK: 1st August, 2003. Like an earnest newbie, I've come to work unnecessarily early; there are no other Motoring chaps present. I find a stack of bound copies of the magazine and flip through them, still unable to believe that I'm now a part of the team. A little later, Bijoy walks in; he seems preoccupied. 'Oh, you're here,' he says, as if he's forgotten that he's just hired me. 'Must find you something to do, then,' he continues, as I wonder what I've let myself in for. He goes into his cabin and emerges with a key fob, which he hands me. I wait for further details, which don't emerge. 'Er, that's it?' I ask. 'Yes. Get out of the office,' he replies. I leave, my mind a blur; I don't realise it, but I'm on my way to becoming a travel writer.