This is a little tale on “earning while learning”. Rewind to 1959 — my post-graduate final year, I was chronically cashless, not from demonetisation but plain poverty. In matters literary, my sole role were some contributions to the college magazine.
Writing was hardly a profession those days. More from an urge to see my byline than any “mercenary” motive, I wrote some articles in Malayalam, on the essentials of the political philosophies of thinkers like Plato and Aristotle. With postage and stationery funded by a relative, I sent it to a popular weekly in Kerala. Leaving me agape, the periodical published it.
Two weeks later came a cheque for Rs.12 (less than 1 dirham!). The editor’s congratulations and request for more contributions were beyond the dreams of avarice.
I sprouted like a watered seedling.
A small issue lurked. Though a student of economics, I was not familiar with the nitty gritty of practical banking. I did not have a bank account anywhere. On “expert” advice, I approached a reputed textile shop in the city and asked the manager whether, accepting the cheque, he could supply me with a pant piece. He obliged after getting my signature on the reverse.
As I stood before the mirror a la Narcissus, my resplendent figure enthralled me, the lower half scintillating in a parrot green sheath. I had earned the money by the sweat of my brow!
The weekly accepted my pieces for about three months parking me on cloud nine.
Two years later, I got a job in the state Secretariat. Trying to rustle up my literary talents, I sent an article, this time in English, to another daily. They accepted and accommodated me every Wednesday.
The editor once suggested I use my “strategic” government job to squeeze in into my articles official information to which I had access. Prudence dictated that I desist. The daily, while sagacious enough not to pay me for any of my twelve articles, stopped publishing my contributions!
So ended my flirtation with the muses....
- The author is a retired officer of the Reserve Bank of India and a freelance journalist
