BetweenTheLines

  By Sameer Arshad Khatlani In the summer of 2004, I arrived in Delhi for good to live my dream of being a journalist. Though eternally optimistic, lurking fears did weigh me down. A teacher subtly fanning the kind of prejudice that is now in one's face, and some classmates openly expressing it confirmed these fears. Hanging onto my firm belief in the innate goodness of humans was among the ways I dealt with it. The belief has since stood me in good stead. Vanita Raghuvanshi, one of my classmates at the journalism school, was among the first ones in Delhi to strengthen my belief in the values that I grew up with. She personified what innate goodness means: humans are inherently good and doing good comes naturally to them. Vanita is among the rare people completely devoid of prejudice. Her disarming innocence and pleasant and friendly demeanour offered me a much-needed sense of inclusion to stay the course to live my dream. Vanita was not alone in being a source of strength