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| Sunday, 25 April 2004 |
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Personality plus The long and short of Ashan by Farah Macan Markar It's nine in the night. The living room TV is switched on for the day's news. Local, foreign, business, sports, the newscaster spills it all out and it is one such guy I met in a recent interview. He's tall, dark and wears his long hair in a pony tail. He is twenty two years, dimpled, MTV Newscaster Ashan Dias. News reading for Yes FM on Tuesday evenings and for MTV on Monday and Friday nights, Ashan has been working in MBC for three years. Being on air for the last two years, he initially started out as a reporter for MTV, doing coverages, news writing and editing. "Being a reporter is a behind the scenes job. The reporter is the one who collects the news and puts it in order for the newscaster to read out" says Ashan. After five months of strict reporting Dias got into news reading for YES FM and then later for MTV. While describing his first shot at being on screen as "Not bad" having to read only the sport news, it was the second time round which was Ashan's butterflies in the stomach moment. "The Sirasa studio had burnt down so I had to use a makeshift studio which I wasn't used to. Plus there was this fly which kept buzzing around my face and I was worried it would land on my nose or something. That second time round has been the most nerve wracking news reading day in my life, so far" he says. Born on 31st May 1981, Ashan studied at Maris Stella College, Negombo doing Maths for his A's. Loafing about for an year afterwards, he then worked with an architect friend for six months, before getting to know about a vacancy for a reporter in MTV and finally taking it. While previously Ashan was full time on the job, at present he does it as part time, for he is studying at the Institute of Architecture in which he has been for the last two years. Speaking of his two loves, being an architect and a newscaster, Ashan acknowledges that though they are two different subjects he enjoys them both. To be an architect has been Ashan's dream from small days, having always had a love for pencil drawing. A knowledge of maths and an element of physics is necessary for structural purposes, this was why Ash decided on doing maths for his A's. However the practical part aside, Dias says it is more important to be creative and original. "I love architecture for it requires you to be crazy. Architecture is about being spontaneous and unconventional. It's not an eight to five job and the best part is that you are your own boss (once you qualify that is)". As for news reading, Ash says he's always wanted to be on TV as far as he can remember. Dias describes being in the media as "Challenging", "Hyper" and "Exciting". "News is a rush rush job. Being a newscaster is a lot of responsibility. Everyone is watching and listening to what you say. When I'm reading the news, I'm not just on TV, I'm in everyone's living room, a part of their lives for half an hour. I feel it's an honour to be able to reach out to many different people all at once". The man on TV and the man in real life however are two entirely different aspects as Ashan explains. Being on TV requires maintaining a certain image. That's where you see the groomed Ash all packed up in a suit with combed and gelled hair wishing you a good evening. The neat and tidy guy on TV in real life however is more inclined to the untidy and clumsy side of life. Comfort being more important than style, Ashan loves wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans, t-shirts and rubber slippers. "Other than my friends, it is difficult for people to recognize me when I go out, for I look so different to the man on TV" he says. Let's talk about hair. Dias's hair is a long pony tail at the moment, but it's had its long-short, short-long stages of life. "I keep changing my hairstyle. I cannot bare to be the same always. I believe in change and having something different coming along once in a way, to give that spark to life. Thus even my hair goes through various changes of length. I've had it long, I've had it short and I'm having it long again at present. Maybe I'll go for medium length next". The middle guy of an all guy family, Ashan has two brothers who are both into sports. While Ash himself has played cricket and athletics for his school, he is more into music, reading, drama and dreaming. Taking his CD pack wherever he goes, Ashan loves SMSing as well as reading, for which he says "I sadly don't have much time for now". Reading Steven King, Michael Crighton and Jeffrey Archer he also loves watching movies, of which his favourites are "City Of Angels", "Braveheart" and "Fight Club". Of drama, Ashan says his ideal dream would be to be an actor. "I would love to be an actor, but the scope to be a professionally paid one is little, unless you are into Sinhala Film acting". Dias has had his share of involvement in drama however, helping backstage in a couple of Workshop Players' plays as well as acting as a hyena in "Lion King". Ashan also loves travelling, specially to the beach. "I'd love to have a beach house in the Caribbean or the Maldives and live there all day. I ironically also love the cool hills, having spent a lot of time there as my grandparents are from Kandy. I go an isolate myself there now and then and spend my time day dreaming, another hobby of mine". A romantic guy who acts on the spur of the moment, Ashan describes being in love as the "Nicest feeling in the world". His biggest influence in life being his parents and religion (he's a Roman Catholic) Ashan describes himself as "Carefree" "Stubborn" and "Friendly". "I'm very much like a child. I love to have fun, go out with my friends, watch movies and play pool. My weakest point would be my time management which is nil. I'm generally late for everything, constantly on the rush and very last minute". Although he is a newscaster Dias says he is not into politics. "Other than what I read then and there, I have no idea what's going on. I think politics is a load of crap". Going to work at 8.00 pm, at 8.30 pm Ashan starts putting the stories he gets in order as well as making a few changes if necessary. At nine on the dot he's on air, giving us the day's news. It is a lot of teamwork however which gets into this final product, with the help of the reporters, producer and technical crew. "We all work together to present what you see on TV" says Ashan adding in that he's worked with a bunch of crazy, fun reporters. Lastly this young newscaster's view on life is "Do what you want to do today, tell people what you have to tell them at once and if you really want something go for it". |
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