Kingkini Sengupta, a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno, has completed her reporting work for Our Town Reno. Before her departure, she took the time to speak with Reynolds School of Journalism colleague and fellow Our Town Reporter Gaia Osborne for a Q&A to share what her experience has been like reporting for our street collective. Included within the article are some photos of Kingkini out in the field, along with some of her favorite photographs from stories that she took during her time with us.
GO: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up reporting for Our Town Reno?
KS: I came to Reno from India and was a producer there for 5 ½ to 6 years. I’d covered the U.S. election and was fascinated by how U.S. politics worked and the dynamics of the country. It was fascinating to watch when you’re from a different country, seas apart, sitting and looking in at what people and politicians are saying. I applied to two universities – Oregon and UNR. Oregon didn’t offer assistantships, and tuition costs a huge amount of money. But I wanted to go to school nonetheless.
My mom was very supportive. She’s like “hey, I’ll sell my kidneys to send you to school.” Eventually, UNR accepted me. I was trying to come here in 2018, but we lost my father in 2017, followed by my uncle. My family dynamics changed, and things were weird. So I didn’t come in 2018, and thank God I didn’t because I would’ve been here throughout the pandemic. When I came here, I was assigned a teaching assistantship, which was fun. But I always wanted to be a reporter, and be out on the field talking to people with real lived experiences. Around October last year, I was walking to a grocery store, and there was this lady that came up to me and asked for a light and a blanket, both of which I didn’t have at that point. She looked as if she might be unhoused – she looked cold and was carrying a big bag of clothes. I didn’t want to assume more than that. When you are coming from a country like India, you see the United States as this American Dream, with riches and money. I never knew there would be people here living in the streets and cars, not having enough food, and working three to four jobs. Anyway, I told this lady I’d come back with a blanket, but when I returned, she wasn’t there anymore. I began wondering who she was, and where she came from. I was speaking to one of my professors about what happened, and he was like “Hey, you’d probably like reporting. Why don’t you talk to Nico [Colombant, the Our Town Reno coordinator]?” He was very enthusiastic and so supportive. He never once told me I couldn’t do it. Rather, he gave me a zoom recorder and told me to go out on the streets and start talking to people. At first, I was skeptical because I am an outsider with a different skin color, so I wasn’t sure how I would be perceived by the people here.
Kingkini took this photo of a remembrance for the unhoused along the Truckee River.
GO: What was the first story you ever wrote for Our Town Reno?
KS: So after [Our Town Reno coordinator] Nico [Colombant] gave me the zoom recorder, me and my friend Shelby decided to go to Downtown Reno near the believe sign and just talk to people. We didn’t go with the motive of doing a story. I just walked up to somebody in the plaza. His name was Robert. He was 56 at that point and had just gotten laid off. He was very frail. He sat on the pavement trying to support his frail body, and had blisters all over his hands and body from the intense sun. I was skeptical about just walking up at first because people do things. They might be angry, they might not want to talk to you. They might have instances in their lives which they aren’t comfortable talking about, so it’s always hit-and-miss with people. But Robert made eye contact with me, and I instantly knew that he wanted to talk so I went up to him. He told us about his osteoporosis, how he couldn’t walk, didn’t have any money and wanted to die. It was upsetting. But yeah, I recorded my first story with him, came back, and wrote about it. We went back to Robert the next day with pillows, aloe gel, and sunscreen. We couldn’t see him, and were just about to leave when we saw Robert walking up to us. We were so happy.
Robert, the first person Kingkini interviewed for Our Town Reno: http://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2021/9/14/robert-waiting-for-death-burritos-and-cigarettes-on-the-streets-of-reno
GO: How do you approach street reporting when it feels like nobody is willing to talk to you?
KS: Something I learned over time is eye contact. You can make eye contact with a person, and if they aren’t interested they normally hide their face or avoid you, which I totally respect and understand. Do you remember the time when we met Bruce? He came up to us, he wanted to talk to us. So yeah, there are all kinds of people on the streets, in their shops, in their little spaces. Everybody is just doing their own thing. But if you walk up to them and they have a story, most of the time they are happy to share it with you. It’s all about how comfortable they feel around you. Just be yourself – once you’re comfortable with your own self and they can see that you’re respecting their space, they are usually more than willing to talk. There are days when people are like, “hey, I’ll tell you my story but I don’t want it to be out in the paper.” And I just spent hours with them sitting there. I think that really helped, just showing people that you have the time for them and you’re just a reporter trying to get their story out of them. Like with Bruce, he sat there and sang a song mid-way through the interview. We could’ve got up and walked off during that song, but we stayed and listened.”
“It’s important for people to feel like, ‘okay, there is someone else who wants to listen and understand my story.’”
GO: Do you think your upbringing and previous journalistic work in India augmented your experience at Our Town Reno in any way?
KS: In India, I was a studio producer. I was in the office, so I was a lot shyer and less confident back then. I didn’t talk to people much, my personality was a lot different before coming here. In India, I was a person who kept to myself, way more introverted. I was always talkative, but never confident when it came to walking up to people. That confidence is something that Nico and Our Town Reno brought out of me. In Reno, I was so welcomed by everyone that I spoke to. Now, I can go to a concert and sit there for hours reporting on it. I can do the same at a yoga class. I can talk to a child. I can talk to a farmer. I can talk to people on the streets, anybody. What I like the most about Our Town Reno is that you don’t have to be a famous politician or big personality to be featured. They’re common people, interesting people with stories to tell. And we get to talk about it. Our Town Reno has brought out this talkative and confident part of me that I never thought I’d have in India.
GO: Is there a story you have covered for Our Town Reno that stands out as your favorite or the most memorable?
KS: I don’t like to pick favorites, every story I have done has taught me something. But there is one story that is very close to my heart and changed a lot of my life perspectives. The story featured a henna artist who does beautiful designs. She’s going to school at TMCC now I think, but also works and has a son and daughter already. She was in a very rough arranged marriage that came out of a forced situation. She had her daughter in this marriage when she was very young, I think she was 15 when she gave birth. Her daughter is a huge inspiration to her, and is grown up now. She broke off from that marriage, remarried, and had her son. The reason I mention her is that when I went to visit for the interview, I went with the intention of interviewing her solely as a henna artist. But I ended up learning of the abuse she faced in her earlier marriage, and her life story made me come to terms with some of the experiences I had as a child who wasn’t really treated well by some men I knew. These are things I lived with for a very long time and it affected my personal relationships. When I spoke to the henna artist, I went back home after and cried a lot. Hearing her story helped me come to terms with the things I’d faced as a child and it became better. I started talking about it, and now I can talk about it freely. Her story really inspired me and made me a better person, helping me come to terms with things I was keeping private for almost 20 years. I went into it thinking that it’ll be a story about henna, and I’d come back and be done with it. But that night changed my life. Another story that’s close to my heart was the one I did on Taissa. She is doing a PhD in Neuroscience and go-go dances on the weekend. I went and spent a whole evening with her while she was dancing, and that experience was so liberating. I really enjoyed that whole evening, I did a full photo shoot on her which was fun. So those two stories stand out the most for me because they’re two separate women with great and empowering stories in their own way.
GO: For the readers and listeners who only get to see the finished product, how do you find and approach your stories? What is your methodology?
KS: This is something I’ve started doing after I came to Reno, but I just talk to anybody I see. I guess it started when the NPR NextGen Radio team was in town for a project, and I was taking a cab to meet them for an unofficial dinner. I was in a Lyft and just speaking to the driver; an Indonesian guy staying in the U.S. with his girlfriend. He was talking to me about starting a local Indonesian business and how in a few months he’d have his business up and running. I took down his number. I just talk to people, whether they’re on the streets or driving a cab. If I see they have a story to tell, I take their number and keep it with me. That’s how I find my stories. Also, Nico will sometimes reach out and be like, “hey, do you want to talk to this person?” and you end up developing great relationships with some of these people. I did a story on Christopher Conway who was setting up his own organization dealing with childhood trauma. That person turned out to be my therapist now.
GO: What piece of advice would you give to an aspiring reporter?
KS: I always say this, and I’ve said this to a lot of people: humanity is very important. We are reporters, we have the power of storytelling. But, there has to be a certain kind of approach when you’re talking to someone. You should never look down on anyone just because they may or may not have had the same experiences as you. If he or she is in a certain place, it’s not because of their experiences, it’s because of whatever has happened to them collectively, and that can happen to anyone. I approach people with humility and give them time. Sometimes people are so happy I’m just there to talk to them and giving them time. I’ve had whistleblowers for Our Town Reno that I’ve spent four hours under a tree with, talking to them. Like I said, humility is very important when you approach a story. Don’t see it just as a story, see it as an experience.
GO: For our listeners and viewers, we’re very sad to say that your time with Our Town Reno is nearly at an end. We would like to say thank you for the time and effort that you’ve put into your stories. And from a more personal level, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from you over the past semester. So what’s next for you?
KS: I’m trying to graduate next semester, and then probably get a reporting or communications job where I can continue the work that I’m doing. Because I’m an immigrant, I’ll need a visa to work here. But yeah, eventually I do want to find stories that are lesser told. But I’ll need a job that will pay my bills and allow me to stay in the country, so I’ll try. I’ve recently been to Alaska to film a documentary [which premiered in December.]