Our operation in Mumbai. Here my producer Prithvi is getting ready to edit on the little MacPro. Tess had just arrived (this was about 3pm on the day after the bombing -- I had been up for about 32 hours at this point). We set up our live position to overlook some of the commuter trains that were running in Mumbai. Tess had just flown in from London (where I had been scheduled to be -- thank goodness I was in India) and Rajeesh (our cameraman and engineer-extrodinare) is setting up the tripod. I wrote the script in the car (as I did with every piece) and then we used power from the car for all of our equipment.
It was so fascinating to be a part of such a big network as it sprung into action to cover a breaking story.
Being in Mumbai to cover the bombings was my first-ever experience in a breaking-news setting... or doing live! I feel like I was learning by the minute!
By the way, I'm sorry that I haven't updated the blog in a bit... I don't want to LOSE any readers here...
CNN sent in people from all over the place to cover this story -- and I really, really liked everyone I met. Satinder (the senior correspondent in the Delhi bureau) was on vacation outside of India -- )which really worked out well for me!) They brought in people from Bangkok, London, New York... and we set up
We set up a little workspace at our hotel. Here (pictured) is Tess who was working as the overall supervising producer -- coordinating EVERYTHING and the two guys at the desk are both from the Bangkok bureau.
It was fun to get to meet some of the other colleagues.
So... speaking of f-u-n FUN... I was able to get back to Delhi last night so I could MEET my friend Steve (wearing green) and his friend (now mine too) Andy. I was "blogging" about Steve the other day -- he's another American who has moved to India for a bit and is working in Mumbai. A friend of a friend put us in touch and we've been emailing and reading each other's blog (funny, huh). So... we feel like old friends now -- it was like meeting a celeb! :) Steve and Andy were en route to the Taj Mahal so spent last night in Delhi. We were all coming in from Mumbai (met at airport) but their filght was quite delayed. Anyway... point is... we had a great time -- and they ended up coming back to the Imperial to chat and drink the Veuve Cliquot that I had purchased for my birthday... but was waiting for the "right occasion" to drink. It was so much fun to have a friend here. Aaaahhh.... what a happy blog story... so funny... the blog connection.
Noelle/Marina/Mary/Derrick... please note that Steve was reading one of the magazines you sent me. They are a real hit! People (yes, even me) seem starved of some candid celebrity photos and news about the Pitt's new baby. I feel like these magazines (US Weekly, People - all the "high-brow" publications) are their own currency here! I gave one to Donna the other week and she was THRILLED... she passed it on to her Indian roommate who doesn't even know the people and she loved it too!
xx - Seth