N o journalism school or newsroom experience can truly prepare a journalist to report on a natural disaster. Earlier this month, when I set out from Kolkata to report on the devastating north Bengal floods, which killed over 30 people and caused more than 110 major landslides, I had little idea about the harrowing stories I would come across: a woman had lost her only child and another woman, who was buried under debris for over a day, survived to tell the tale even through the crushing pain of losing her daughter.

Articulating these stories is just one of the many challenges. First, there was the issue of navigating unknown terrain and trekking through crumbling landslide-affected areas just to get to the families. Then there was the trauma of seeing the extent of destruction and despai

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