People about to be interviewed by the press are usually polite and generally act nice, which makes the work of interviewing them easier. The niceness usually manifests in many gestures, and for a really good interviewee, this may kick off with an offer of a drink to the journo. “What would you like to take …? We have sodas, water, black tea, and African tea …bla, bla.” Now, I have no problem sipping from a mug of hot coffee in the course of that interview; my only problem is that those things of “African tea” and “black tea” just get me all confused! It is like a small equation which I have to solve mentally before I know for sure what I’m about to ask for. Usually, when my mind fails to work out the difference in a few seconds, I just settle for either “African tea” or “black tea”, at random. Instead of “African tea,” why not simply call it “milk tea”, or “white tea”, which would surely leave no doubt in any one’s mind? If, like the people in hotels and restaurants, you insist on calling it “African tea,” then we will presume that you have all the other options with readily available with you –“Indian tea”, “Australian tea”, “American tea…” After African tea has been served, the interview can now proceed. But for the said interview to flow smoothly, certain interview customs must be strictly upheld. One of those customs is that you should not ask the journo how long the interview will take, unless, that is, you are a doctor and are rushing to your medical post to perform a critical surgical operation or woman in labour. Other than argue about the length of the interview, let’s first agree on what kind of content I need from you. The interview will end when it ends. Why rush? Also, there comes such a time during the interview when one suffers a momentary but highly embarrassing lapse of concentration. During such times, do not ask why I’m not jotting down stuff in my notebook anymore. It’s an interview, otherwise I would simply have asked you to put down your thoughts and send me an email. Interview means I have a rough idea what kind of info I need from you, and usually, in my mind, I have a frame of the story as it should flow. Sometimes you are off topic. Sometimes you are chewing curd—that is, going over what you already said, only using different words.
