I began my career in 1985 as a trainee sub-editor at Eelanadu, a regional Tamil daily that was published from the northern Sri Lankan city of Jaffna.

Working as a journalist in 1985 in northern Sri Lanka was no easy task. The civil war was raging, and each day the war worsened in terms of intensity and loss of life. Thus, it was war that shaped my career.

I left Jaffna in 1987 October, during the height of the Indian army offensive against the Tamil Tigers, the main Tamil separatist group. But being a scribe, I could not just leave the city: I smuggled a film role, probably the first set of photos to come out of the operation. One of the photos -- the bodies of 30 Indian soldiers strewn in a yard near the Jaffna city -- was published in the Time magazine.

In Colombo I continued to work for the newspaper, in its capital office, but soon lost the job after the rebels bombed the newspaper head office.

Entry into English Journalism

Thereafter I switched to English journalism. I worked for a private news agency in Colombo and freelanced for the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency. I also wrote for other media, including the Panos Institute, UK.

Besides travelling to central Sri Lanka to cover the issues of 'Indian Tamils', I also visited northern and eastern provinces regularly to cover important issues.

My last visit to Jaffna was in April 1990, to attend the press conference given by Mr Prabakaran, leader of the Tamil Tigers. It was to be his last press briefing until 2002.

From a Foreign Correspondent to a Foreign Correspondent in a Foreign Country

I left Sri Lanka in 1990 and went to Austria.

Except for an occasional article, my career hibernated between 1990 May and 1992. Early 1993, I joined the Vienna office of the IPS and the same year I began freelancing for India Abroad News Service (IANS now Indo-Asian News Service).

In 1995, I began freelancing for the Straits Times, Singapore.

In Austria, I covered the United Nations (drugs and crime, space, nuclear matters etc), media issues, technology, environment, human rights and trade/economic issues.

In 1997, I began freelancing for Gemini/Panos Features, UK. In between, I also wrote for the Dagbladet, Norway. (more)