Archana Cini, Digital Media and Marketing, Writer/Reporter
Lookout Newspaper

I’m Archana Cini, and I’ve been the Lookout’s writer, reporter, and digital marketing coordinator for the past six months. People like to ask me why I’m here, and I always start with what I’m not here to do. I don’t want to tell the same story for the hundredth time with a few words changed. I want to show the entirety of the West Coast that the Royal Canadian Navy isn’t just an institution — it is its people, every single one. That’s why I’m here.

We’ve all heard Aristotle’s, ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’ but I think we sometimes forget that the whole itself would cease to exist if not for the existence of, literally, each individual part. In this sense, I don’t want to write about just the whole. I also want to learn about every role, every person, their experiences both in and out of their uniform. The details are where my favorite stories are found. At the seed of my soul, I want to share Defence Community stories as its humans are — brave, funny, and always real. I never want to write from a distance. I want to get close enough to understand why something matters.

If I got to sit down with my ten-yearold self and tell her what her proudest moment in life to date would be, it’s this one — being seen as the woman behind the words. As a South Indian immigrant, English didn’t always feel like mine. In my early years, I used it to survive. Now, it is my craft.

“I can’t say I’ve been in this industry for four decades, but I can say I write a damn good story.”

Writing in a military context comes with its difficulties. Not because I might make a mistake (we all will, it’s inevitable), but because I never want to leave a good story untold, real meaning lost between fingers like water. There is always so much to explore and understand. I think I will be learning how to balance this for the rest of my career.

The West Coast has been my home for most of my life. It has a way of working its way into your bones, slipping into your every breath. There’s magic in the way the sun dips into the Pacific Ocean here; it doesn’t look like that anywhere else. It’s the West Coast that taught me to slow down and notice the details I’ve come to love so much. It really means something to get to spend my days staring at this special sea from my window. I’m also of the firm belief that SH522’s got one of the most beautiful views of the coast there is.

If you see me out and about, come say hello. Tell me your stories — the ones closest to your heart, the ones that matter the most.

Thank you for trusting me with them.

Fun Facts

Q: What’s your favorite book?

A: It’s torture asking for just one! That being said, Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane comes to mind. It’s one of those books that change your perceptions on life.

Q: What’s a surprising skill you have?

A: My serious answer is that I grew up with a classical piano background, so I love listening to and playing Chopin, Debussy, etc. My fun answer is that I’m my family’s (free) hairdresser. I’d be a whole lot richer if they actually paid me for my cuts.

Q: What’s your favourite CFB Esquimalt memory?

A: HMCS Ottawa’s homecoming in March. It was the first homecoming I’d been to, one of my first outdoor assignments as a reporter, and it was also pouring rain — honestly, I wasn’t much looking forward to it. I remember feeling the energy shift the closer I got to the jetty, and thinking to myself, ‘Oh,’ when I finally saw children with big grins on their faces holding up dripping handmade posters in the cold. It wasn’t about the rain to them.

It really wasn’t about the rain at all.

As Ottawa got closer to land, I understood the weight of what a homecoming really meant: it’s not just about the sailors stepping off the ship, but also about the people who have been holding down life at home, waiting, hoping. I swear I could see every invisible thread between sailor and loved one, literally pulling the ship to shore. The idea of service became a lot bigger for me that day. There was so much love there, in that space. I’ll never forget it.

Connect with Archana at archana.cini@forces.gc.ca