"What's with the attitude, Gen-Y?"

That's not me asking the question (though, I must admit, it has been at the back of my mind for some years now) but a member of Gen-Y himself, someone who is at pains to understand why some young people behave the way they do. Read on...

I was startled out of my early morning reverie today by this Facebook message I received from a young man I admire deeply for his intelligence, his sense of humour, and his abiding commitment to his profession:

Is it just me acting senile or is the level of professionalism among the younger generation reaching appalling depths?

   
Here is the conversation we had via Facebook later in the day (this is an edited transcript; the young man, who is in his late twenties, shall remain unnamed for obvious reasons. I have labelled him Mr X below):

RP: Read my "accusations". THE READING ROOM: What happens when a crusty old journalism teacher takes on Gen-Y?

In the same post, read all the comments, too. By the way, what brought this on? And aren't you part of THIS generation?
 
Mr X: Hahaha! I meant the men and women a couple of years younger than me...
 
RP: Ah. Anyway, what brought this on?

Mr X: I've been watching plenty of them trooping in and out of office. All the same. Lackadaisical, lazy... and ARROGANT! I'm sure they're all not like this. But the ones I've seen... shocking.

RP: Do read my "accusations" and the comments in that post. And forward the link to youngsters who might benefit from reading it all.

Mr X: It's stupid little things — bunking work on a Monday because of an upset stomach (read hangover), walking into meetings late, leaving work undone...

RP: Yes. Do my "accusations" make sense now? Many youngsters I know thought I was being too harsh.

Mr X: Yes. Just read the article. All your accusations make sense. And yes, when I collared a first year here about this stuff, he seemed amazed. And then he bunked the next day because of a headache. And I think one comment in that article sums it all up. The one about disregarding traffic rules in order to be in class on time! Just one example. Pitch morning. Real pitch. For one of the biggest brands in India. Everyone's been in office all night, for nights on end. Meeting starts at 10. Hardly anyone leaves for fear of being late. Everyone is supposed to be in the office by 8. And everyone is there. Except for one of the newest, most junior employees.  He walks in at 9.50. Now no one wants a distraction before the meeting. So nothing is said.
 
RP: And...
   
Mr X: Later, in the evening, I ask him about it. His reply, I kid you not: I need my 8 hours! I thought he was joking. But he wasn't. That's like a journalist walking into office late on the day of the election results! Which is exactly what I told him. His reply to that: That's why I didn't become a journalist! Mr X 0, New Guy 2.
 
RP: Ouch!

Mr X: The sad part is, in a profession like advertising, these guys will get clobbered sooner or later. Because these things get noticed. And everyone thinks advertising is this cool profession where anything goes. Well, that's only if you're brilliant. And these youngsters are nowhere near that yet. It's not like they aren't good at their jobs. But stuff like this takes away from that. I'm sure when you started out, you wouldn't dream of walking out of office before your bosses left.

RP: There was no question of walking out till the job was done. Period.
   
Mr X: Exactly. And they're dumb! One of them uploaded a picture of a party. On a day when he was too sick to even answer calls!
 
RP: Is there a solution? Can attitude be taught? What do you think?
   
Mr X: Hahaha!

• Mr X did not want this conversation to be made public. But he was persuaded by my argument that his comments would be taken more seriously than mine since he is a member of Gen-Y himself. Thank you, Mr X.

Even if you are not a dog-lover, it is impossible not to be moved...

...by this powerful cover story in the latest issue of National Geographic.

LOOK AT THAT OPENING LINE:

"Here is Marine Corporal Jose Armenta in his tent on the night before getting blown up in Afghanistan."

Read the piece in its entirety here: "The Dogs of War".

• MORE FROM THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC:

A tribute to an amazing photo editor

Photography buffs will go nuts when they read these tips on the NatGeo website

How to get people to read — and appreciate — your Facebook posts

PLUS: Check out the National Geographic style guide, which comes highly recommended by  Mark Nichol, editor of the Daily Writing Tips blog: "This free online resource from the National Geographic Society doesn’t show up high in search rankings, but it’s an excellent resource. (And, seriously, have you ever seen a clumsy sentence, a grammatical error, or even a typo in National Geographic?) Unusually terse but clear entries are organised alphabetically, and the site includes a directory of new and altered entries and, especially helpful, one of terms and rules that contradict other authoritative resources or are exceptions to the norm."

Why you should use link shorteners

Look at this ugly and unwieldy web link:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=280058172174142&set=a.273149396198353.1073741847.144312465748714&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-xpf1%2Ft1.0-9%2F10371729_280058172174142_1592109468619161070_n.jpg&size=960%2C623

Here is the same link, shortened:

http://on.fb.me/1nAQleM

Isn't that neat? Also, so convenient when you want to share it on Twitter (with its 140-character limit) and on other social networks.

You can even customise that shortened link to, say, http://bit.ly/RDPfb.

I use https://bitly.com/ to shorten links. But there are other URL crunchers available on the web, such as http://goo.gl/ and http://tinyurl.com/.

• There's one more thing you should know about using links. When you post a link as part of your status update on, say, Facebook, once the relevant site is "live", you should delete the link BEFORE sharing the status update. That way only what you want us to read will be seen in the status update. Try it now.

How does a great photographer prepare to shoot a portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip?

What a wonderfully instructive experience this is!

Here, in a passage from a masterly essay by my new favourite author, Janet Malcolm, is the famed German photographer Thomas Struth, describing his preparations to make a portrait of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh:

He studied old photographs and found most of them wanting. He saw the technical mistakes, “what should not happen” — notably their distracting backgrounds. He visited Buckingham Palace and decided it was too cluttered. When the gilded green, red, and white drawing rooms at Windsor Castle were offered, he selected the green room (the white room was “too tired” and the red room “too much”) and spent a day there making test shots.

“While I was there, I said, ‘I want to see the dresser’ — the woman who is in charge of the Queen’s wardrobe. Because the second thing I noticed when I looked at the past photographs of the Queen was that many of the dresses she wears are very unfortunate. She has quite big boobs and she often wears something that goes up to the neck and then there is this stretch of fabric under the face that makes it look small.” (I smiled to myself at Struth’s coarse reference to the royal bosom — a rare lapse in his excellent English.)

The day before the sitting, Struth continued, “the dresser came in with twenty dresses. She was a very nice woman, and we had an immediate chemistry. I felt that she saw me. Later, she told the Queen that I was O.K. — that I was a nice guy. I selected the dress, a pale-blue brocade with garlands, a bit shiny, and it matched nicely against the dark green.”

I asked if the Queen accepted his choice and he said yes. He did not choose the Duke’s costume, except to ask for a white shirt. At the sitting, the Duke wore a dark suit and a blue tie. “He was perfect,” Struth said.

In further preparation, Struth read a biography of Elizabeth, and “I felt sympathy. They were my parents’ generation. She was exactly my mother’s age and Philip was born in 1921, two years after my father was born.”

Thomas Struth’s large-scale portrait of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, taken at Windsor Castle, was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in London, for an exhibition of paintings and photographs of the Queen commemorating her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. When Struth was approached, he wondered, “Would I be able to say something new about people like this?”

Later in the essay, Malcolm writes about going along with Struth to visit the printing lab to inspect the portrait:

Struth ... said that the picture was too yellow, and for the next half hour colour adjustments were made on test strips, until he was satisfied that the print had reached the degree of coolness he wanted.

THOMAS STRUTH

Then the issue of size arose. The print we were looking at was big, around sixty-three by seventy-nine inches, and he asked that a larger print be made. When this was produced, he regarded the two prints side by side for a long while.

It seemed to me that the smaller print was more flattering to the Queen — the larger print made her look larger, almost gross.

Struth finally asked that the smaller print be taken away so that he could study the larger print without distraction, and he finally decided on it.

Further colour adjustments were made on the big print — the Queen’s hands were made less red, the background was darkened, to noticeably good effect — and Struth was satisfied.

The essay contains more details: Struth's experiences during the sitting (he was nervous, he says), Malcolm's analysis of the royal portrait ("a composition of satisfying serenity and readability"), and her take on the art of photography itself ("The camera doesn't know how to lie. The most mindless snapshot tells the truth of what the camera's eye saw at the moment the shutter clicked.").

I read the essay in a collection of Malcolm's finest writings, Forty-One False Starts: Essays on Artists and Writers (author and book cover pictured above). But the essay is also available on the website of The New Yorker, where it was first published. You can read it here: "Depth of Field".

By the way, Janet Malcolm was in her mid-70s, in 2011, when she flew over to Germany from the U.S. to interview Thomas Struth. Just sayin'.

• In the Daily Telegraph, "A 'tender' new portrait photograph of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh".

• From reading an interview with Thomas Struth on the Leica Camera Blog, I learned that a picture of his — a self-portrait in front of Albrecht Dürer’s famous self-portrait (see below) — was sold at Sotheby’s in an auction in February 2011 for 502,000 euros (Rs.4 cr approximately at today's exchange rates).

ALSO READ: A profile of Janet Malcolm, who has been writing for The New Yorker since 1963. And "When you have two hours to shoot ace director James Cameron for a National Geographic magazine cover, how do you do it?"

ADDITIONAL READING: "Meet the 93-year-old journalist who still goes to work almost every day".

He has been blind since age 10, but the company he founded generates revenues worth millions of dollars

How did Herb Greenberg, now 84, do it?

Read this feature on the newly redesigned website of Fortune magazine (which, by the way, has consistently been publishing high-quality writing) and learn more about this phenomenal man who was once unable to get a job but who now teaches companies how to hire:

Believing in the Power of Potential

When Herb Greenberg, with all that experience under his belt, offers advice, it make sense to listen carefully. Here are some gems from the interview:

• Seventy percent of workers are in jobs to make a living; they don’t love what they’re doing. We say, “Let’s find out what you love doing, then get you the training to do it.”

• Hiring is a lot better than it used to be in terms of discriminating against physical handicaps, race, and gender. But there are still elements of discrimination. For example, why would an inability to walk affect the ability to answer a phone? Forget the disability. Grab the ability, and ride it to death.

• Ask references more than just “Did he do the job well?” Ask “What is he like?” and “How’d he work with people?” You can always teach skills. You can’t train attitude.

ALSO READ, in the same issue, a top-class news feature on Patek Philippe, the 175-year-old Swiss watchmaker: "Patek Philippe crafts its future". And this absolutely fascinating story of a unique power couple: Both husband and wife are CEOs of billion-dollar companies; the husband's firm is situated on the U.S. West Coast, the wife's on the East Coast. How did they get where they are today? And how do they make their marriage work? Answers to these and other questions can be found here: "Power couple: John and Tamara Lundgren’s merger of equals".

ADDITIONAL READING: "Good ideas and good writing need to be backed up by good design".

Meet the 93-year-old journalist who still goes to work almost every day

For more than five decades now, Roger Angell has worked at the hallowed New Yorker magazine.

And during that time, as Sridhar Pappu points out in an elegantly written profile for Women's Wear Daily (also known as the bible of fashion), Angell has edited fiction and non-fiction while also publishing his own light-verse poems, short stories, profiles, and other features in the New Yorker's pages.

ROGER ANGELL WITH HIS FOX TERRIER, ANDY.

A few months ago, Angell made news on his own when he wrote a piece for the New Yorker that, as Pappu says in the profile, "managed to cut through the noise, becoming a subject of conversation at Manhattan cocktail parties and in Brooklyn bars while also generating thousands of tweets and more than 40,000 Facebook shares".

No wonder it created such a buzz. Look at that zinger of an opener:

Check me out. The top two knuckles of my left hand look as if I’d been worked over by the K.G.B. No, it’s more as if I’d been a catcher for the Hall of Fame pitcher Candy Cummings, the inventor of the curveball, who retired from the game in 1877. To put this another way, if I pointed that hand at you like a pistol and fired at your nose, the bullet would nail you in the left knee. Arthritis.

And here's another passage that speaks volumes for Angell's sense of humour:

Decline and disaster impend, but my thoughts don’t linger there. It shouldn’t surprise me if at this time next week I’m surrounded by family, gathered on short notice—they’re sad and shocked but also a little pissed off to be here—to help decide, after what’s happened, what’s to be done with me now. It must be this hovering knowledge, that two-ton safe swaying on a frayed rope just over my head, that makes everyone so glad to see me again. “How great you’re looking! Wow, tell me your secret!” they kindly cry when they happen upon me crossing the street or exiting a dinghy or departing an X-ray room, while the little balloon over their heads reads, “Holy shit—he’s still vertical!”

Read Angell's marvellous essay in its entirety here: "This Old Man".

And check out the profile written by Sridhar Pappu here: "Roger Angell: A Hall-of-Famer at 93".

• Two delectable nuggets from the profile:

*The writers Angell has edited include Woody Allen and John Updike.

*In 1956, [the editor of the New Yorker] gave Angell a staff position, only to ask him to take an editing test at the last minute. “I said, ‘No, I’m not going to take a test,’ ” Angell recalls. “I said, ‘I’ll start, and if it doesn’t work out, you can fire me.’ And it worked out.”

• Photograph courtesy: The New Yorker

• Back in June 2000, Sridhar Pappu had written an essay for Salon about his "experience with the new world of high-stakes Indian American dating". Read it here: "Deranged marriage".

ALSO READ: In the New Yorker — "Citizens Jain: Why India's newspaper industry is thriving"

• Patrick Michael, editor of the Dubai-based Khaleej Times, commented via Google+

What a zinger of an opening line! Reminds you of Charles Dickens (classics) and Raymond Chandler (non-fiction).

What is it about words that can stop you in your tracks no matter what you are doing? Opening lines was actually a topic for debate at the recent Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai and almost all the authors agreed that an opening lines makes all the difference between picking up or dropping a book. Perhaps you should invite your students to offer the best opening lines they have read... and the worst.

Here's mine:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
.
Beat that.

Earth-shaking news for the millions of fans of "Calvin and Hobbes"!

On my Facebook timeline today:

So does the creator of "Calvin and Hobbes" return to the comics page? Read all about it in this blog post by Stephan Pastis here. Enjoy!

ALSO READ:

• You won't believe how Stephan Pastis gets his ideas

• How Stephan Pastis deals with complaints from the public

UPDATE (June 9, 2014): The Washington Post has published an "exclusive" on this rare sighting of a reclusive artist. Read it here.

UPDATE (June 15, 2014): I have placed a copy of  Pearls Freaks the #*%# Out: A (Freaky) Pearls Before Swine Treasury in the Commits library. This Treasury is a treasure, I assure you! In addition, there are two copies of Calvin and Hobbes books as well as a Calvin and Hobbes omnibus. Enjoy!

Um... basically... ah... literally... uh...

BEN DECKER

Do you use filler words?

If yes, you should be aware, says PR guru Ben Decker, that using such filler words when you speak will annoy your listeners and torpedo your credibility.

Helpfully, in the piece he wrote for Entrepreneur magazine earlier this week, Decker, who runs his own communications firm, also provides advice on how to cut out the filler words from your conversation:

1. Leave yourself a voicemail.

2. Try to overdo a pause.

3. If you project your voice, it's really hard to say "um…"

4. Don't get down on yourself.

He elaborates on each point in the article while pointing out that the payoff for eliminating filler words is tremendous:

Heightened credibility. A better delivery. Best of all, a clearer message without the distraction.

Read the piece in its entirety here: "How to Cut the 'Ums,' Uhs,' and 'Literallys' When Speaking".

ADDITIONAL READING:

• Here are four ways to "quiet your presentation anxiety"

RELATED READING:

• How to avoid struggling to make conversation

What you need to know about amateur writing vs professional writing

I am indebted to Maeve Maddox for explaining, in a highly relevant post on the Daily Writing Tips blog, the difference between amateur writing and professional writing.

I am also grateful to her for pointing out that, contrary to what some people may think, it is NOT a waste of time to take pains over grammar, diction, and syntax.

"Few writers have what it takes to produce 'great writing'," Maddox says, "but even a great storyteller requires professional writing skills to get the story across to the reader."

And then, an important observation:

The difference between amateur writing and professional writing is rewriting.

Read the post, which offers a close look at the work of an amateur, in its entirety here: "A Sample of Amateur Writing".

ADDITIONAL READING:

• What matters most in good writing

• "Want To Be Taken Seriously? Become a Better Writer"

• How do you make sure you’re writing right?

• How to spot lazy a.k.a. mediocre travel writing

• If you want just one "golden rule" of writing...

What it takes to produce video reviews of Hindi and English films for a movie website

From The Commits Chronicle, April 17, 2014:

A DREAM JOB THAT JUST KEEPS 
GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!

In January, SHIKHA BHATNAGAR (Class of 2014) joined PK Online in Bangalore as a content executive and her primary role then was to do voiceovers (read about her first month’s experience here). But today Shikha has been given many more responsibilities and, as she writes below, her job has become not only more challenging but also more interesting:

I once mentioned to RP Sir that I can’t believe my luck because, career-wise, I have surely landed in the right place: with every passing day I love more and more what I am doing.

RP Sir’s response: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

That simple comment made me feel so proud of myself. I had started off as a voiceover artist but today I not only face the camera but also edit videos. Each week I face the camera at least once, either for the box office predictions or for a movie review, and I am told that I am only getting better with each effort.

What else can I ask for? No doubt this is turning out to be something more than a dream job.

The first movie I reviewed was Gulaab Gang. I sat through the screening feeling extremely uneasy; the thought of having to face the camera afterwards and talk about the film was making me really nervous, even though I had had some exposure to television anchoring, thanks to Commits. After the movie got over, I raced back to work and wrote a long script, which I then tried to memorise and deliver verbatim in front of the camera.

That day I learnt two things. First, never try to mug up a movie review, and second, act like the camera is a person and you’re talking to it in a casual manner about the film. Today I am much more confident, and I actually look forward to the experience: I watch a movie (for free) almost every Friday, jot down key points, and, later, in our studio, simply talk to the camera.

JOTTED DOWN: SHIKHA'S FILM REVIEW NOTES.

There came a day when my video editor needed a four-day break from work. During my job interview I had mentioned that I can do some basic video editing. My boss remembered that and she asked me to step in and edit some videos using Final Cut Pro (which is the software we used at Commits, too). I did a decent job and so, today, I also edit my “filmi gossip” videos. At Commits it is compulsory to learn editing and we had to edit all our video projects. It’s true I never took the editing classes seriously — I thought editing was not something I would have to do in the future — but I am grateful now that we were forced to learn how to use Final Cut Pro. Now just four of us in my team are producing enough content for our channel.

This is why I will always maintain that Commits provides a complete media education package. I am not just saying it for the sake of it, but because every single thing that you are taught helps you later in ways you won’t even realise while you are being taught.

So once again, thanks a ton, Commits!