Sample Work

This section features a  sample selection of  Vani’s reports published during her years as a professional journalist in India and as an independent journalist in New York City. This listing is by no means exhaustive and links to more published reports can be provided as and when needed.  The listing is not chronological and is by order of importance.

More of Vani’s sample work can be viewed at http://www.opresume.com/vanidoraisamy. Please email vani@vanidoraisamy.com for guest password to view portfolio.

NEW YORK DESPATCHES

THE TSUNAMI FILES

(Note: The new website of  The New Indian Express is yet to incorporate archived material dating more than four years back. The work is in progress and weblinks should be available soon. Once that happens, they will be featured here too. To view reports, click on thumbnails to enlarge)

A series of reports filed for The New Indian Express on the tsunami that hit the Eastern coast of India on 26 December, 2004 and what followed later.  The southern state of Tamil Nadu was among the worst affected with more than 8,000 people dead and several others reported missing in the coastal regions of Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Kanyakumari and Chennai. In the week that followed after the disaster, these reports focussed on the human face of the tragedy, beyond just statistics. The first report, seen below, was filed immediately after the tidal waves struck.

• Chennai, December 26,2004: Tsunamis hit Chennai

• Chennai, December 27, 2004:  Epidemic threat haunts battered coast.

• Nagapattinam, December 31: Nowhere to go for Nagai’s orphans.

A day after this report was published, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that the government would open its own orphanages for tsunami-affected children. Details here.

• Vailankanni/Nagapattinam, January 2, 2005: Waves of terror lash Vailankanni’s haunted beaches.

• Nagapattinam, January 4: Touts, thugs grab share of relief pie.

• Nagapattinam, January 6: Personal tragedies provide fodder for cameras in Nagapattinam.

LIFE AFTER TSUNAMI

A month after the tsunami struck and the first phase of relief and rescue operations had been completed, I made my second tour along the Tamil Nadu coast, starting from the southernmost tip–Kanyakumari–to the capital city of Chennai–to report on how survivors were piecing together their lives. These reports showcase extraordinary stories of survival in the face of the one of the biggest natural calamities to have befallen this part of the world in the last two centuries. The Life after Tsunami series, which ran in The New Indian Express, continues to be one of my best received efforts.

February 1, 2005:

• Kanyakumari: Child survivors ready to dare sea again.

February 3, 2005

• Kanyakumari: Religion provides a healing touch to battered Kumari.

February 5, 2005

• Nagapattinam: When their dreams came crashing down in the wave.

February 8, 2005

• Nagapattinam: Ravaged by Nature, rebuffed by geography.

February 10, 2005:

• Cuddalore: Tsunami provides a sea of opportunity to Pudukuppam.

February 14, 2005

• Chennai: Women power comes to the fore.

TSUNAMI REVISITED

A year later, I toured the Cuddalore district– which had been the beneficiary of a massive partnership between the government, international agencies and voluntary organisations– to see if rehabilitation efforts were paying off the ground and how the affected communities had coped in the meanwhile. Another series of reports followed, this time for The Hindu, where I was working as Special Correspondent.

• December 18, 2005: A break from a bloody past.

• December 19,2005: Playing community roosters.

• December 20, 2005:  Retail economy booming.

• December 24,2005: In search of certainties. .

Another year and I was back in Cuddalore again,  this time accompanying tennis ace Roger Federer, who was visiting the tsunami areas as UNICEF’s goodwill amabassador, and was witness to the unique bonding between the champion player and the tsunami orphans.

• December 23, 2006: Roger Federer serves an ace at Cuddalore.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE:

• Chennai may become pythton-breeding hub (The Hindu, April 22, 2005)

• Alert sounded against tiger poachers (The Hindu, April 24, 2005)

• Tsunami, a blessing to Olive Ridleys (The Hindu, May  5, 2005)

• A dumping ground for e-waste (The Hindu, June 11, 2005)

• Proposal to improve city’s air quality (The Hindu, August 25, 2005)

• Rare turtles born in captivity (The Hindu, August 26, 2005)

• When a tortoise went on a diet (The Hindu, September 11, 2005)

• A breather for the Adyar Estuary (The Hindu, October 31, 2005)

• Plan to set up industry sparks row (The Hindu, January 6, 2006)

• River clean-up drive is a white elephant (The Hindu, November 24, 2006)

• New lease of life for dying lakes (The Hindu, April 14, 2007)

• Yet to wake up to climate change challenges (The Hindu, July 22, 2007)

REPORTS USED AS RESOURCE MATERIAL:

United Nations Environment Programme:

• Yet to wake up to climate change challenges (The Hindu, July 22, 2007)

Centre for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Whither secondary schooling? (The Hindu, September 25, 2006), cited in the Current Demographic Research Report No.152.

Sanctuary Asia

• Sudden decline in flamingo population (The New Indian Express, November 27,2003)

Wikipedia

• A Song for the Nation (The Hindu Magazine, March 19, 2006)

• A breather for the Adyar Estuary (The Hindu, October 31,2005)

The Public Relations Resource Centre, New Zealand

• Personal tragedies provide fodder for cameras in Nagapattinam (The New Indian Express, January 7, 2005), used as part of a research documentation on media ethics and behaviour while reporting on disasters. See here.

CMS ENVIS Centre, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India

• Nationwide vulture census to begin soon

• Second tiger reserve for Tamil Nadu

• Deer census in Guindy National Park

SUNDAY READING: