This is a story about a famous face from Indian television news and a private part of her life that the public has no knowledge of. Jabaakhi Borthakur presents the news on Doordarshan. She lives and works in Delhi.
Background
Jabaakhi describes herself as being born in a small “Nondescript town in a North Eastern state in India called Assam. The town's name is Tinsukia and even in India most people only know it through a train service called Tinsukia Mail. Both my parents are lawyers which led me to pursue a law degree initially and subsequently practice in the Supreme Court of India for a year.
Jabaakhi Borthakur chooses the UK as a destination of choice whenever she has the opportunity, and is in London to attend a conference as well as report on the run up to the British general election.
What draws her to the UK?
“I remember when I was six-seven years old my father would read me the poems of Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge etc. From then I developed a deep liking for the English language. I bought books like "30 Days for a More Powerful Vocabulary" etc and tried to improve my vocabulary. Something in the language touched my heart. It sort of awakened me. That's why I pursued it for my Bachelor's and Master's degree in University. With the UK I have a deep emotional bond developed from childhood through the language of English. I love the British sense of fairness, transparency, the inclusive institutions that impart freedom and justice to all communities and faiths.
I won an Indo-UK scholarship a few years back for a course at the London School of Economics. I had a chance to visit the country and interact with people. It further cemented the bond and love for it's people and public institutions. Now I am here to attend a peak performance, motivational workshop by one of the world's leading life skills teacher Tony Robbins. And also to cover the snap elections.
Jabaakhi Borthakur has had a chance to study broadcast journalism in the UK and finds clear differences between her work in India and here.
“Anchoring for Doordarshan is different from private news channels or any other public broadcaster like the BBC. It is government controlled and has an `official' environment. There is not much scope for journalists to express their opinion or cover issues independently or be critical. The scripts are based on a pre-vetted format. It is more technical in approach without scope for much creativity or criticism. Anchors also have to follow a strict dress code, which is not even remotely close to other private channels or public broadcasters. The public broadcaster in U.K. works independently and uses cutting edge technology and has very high standards of journalism. Anchors conduct an open and healthy debate on political issues without parroting government agendas. Therefore, the anchors in UK, I suppose exercise wider independence and openness.”
Biggest Challenges
Jabaakhi finds that her biggest challenge is to keep learning and growing. She says, “I have always overcome the hurdle of achieving my goals through it's spiritual understanding. I believe that success is both a goal and as well as a journey. The major reason for setting a goal is to give focus. In the process of achieving the goal, it's not what you get but who you become. This spiritual lesson is only possible when you let time take its course, teaching you things of immense value on the way. I do not believe in the concept of winning an Oscar for a first movie. There will be nothing more left to learn and you won't value what you got.”
Jabaakhi is well respected by top Indian politicians and leaders, and millions recognise her face, but there are still surprising thing the public does not know about her job and about her.
She explains, “The surprising thing the public does not know about my job is that we as news anchors perform live shows most of the time. But they don't know that we deliver and read news as it happens, sitting in the studio, even if it is three am . Even if it's a bad day at home, we have to consistently keep up our energy levels and deliver a good bulletin.
What maybe the public doesn’t know about me is that I am actually a quiet person who loves contemplating the universe and watching the stars, especially on a clear dark night. I harbour a next life desire of becoming a top scientist who will uncover the mystery behind the much talked about dark matter and dark energy - the two baffling secrets of the universe.”
