Should I write or should I fight?

I came here to learn, explore, recharge, and apply my skills. And as I consider the job options before me, I have to make a basic decision: write or fight?

The first option is to write and edit for a specific Indian public interest newsweekly. The second? Direct an NGO’s efforts to help people fight against corruption. The third is to work as a campaigner for passage of a major health law.

To be fair, the choice of “writing or fighting” is an oversimplification. Muckraking journalists pick fights and expose the problems that need solutions. And NGO campaigners do plenty of writing. But at the end of the day, the two are different worlds.

One is the writer’s world — exploring issues, meeting new communities, and pointing a flashlight into the shadows. The other is the activist’s world — picking one issue, meeting the world around that issue, and pursuing a specific solution.

There are other differences too. The “fighter’s world” enables me to build a team, continue strengthening my skills as an advocate, and do an in-depth exploration of India through that single-issue lens. And the issues mentioned above — corruption and public health — are both huge lenses to look through. Depending on the position, I would also be doing many of the things useful to my career: international fundraising, political strategy, and managing staff.

Meanwhile, the “writer’s world” would enable me to meet many teams and explore India through many lenses. I’d be digging into Indian politics and society, asking tough questions, and justifying to an editor why my answers should be published. To be fair, I’d be doing a lot of editing of other people’s work to start. It isn’t all glamor when you try something new.

Another selling point is that the editors are leaders of a proud newsweekly that was once shut down by the Indian government. Bad things can happen when you secretly film senior defense officials stuffing cash bribes into their pockets. This is a magazine led by fighters — who know how to write.

So it is a tough question. Write or fight.