India Today and Outlook
Selling a magazine to me is easy. Any of the following prefixes: Collector’s, Special or Anniversary, assures atleast one eager buyer. I even bought ‘specials’ of women magazines. It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading them, but feminine stuff are more fun borrowed than bought.

First came Outlook with its mammoth 330 page ‘Tenth Anniversary Mega Issue’ (October 17, 2005). I was barely through with it that India Today realised that it has been three decades of its existence on the newsstands. And as if in a show of one-upmanship the otherwise less pompous sounding ‘Anniversary Issue’ (December 26, 2005) counted 384 pages outdoing its youthful rival by a margin of 54 pages.

Needless to say Vinod Mehta makes for a better read than Aroon Purie, otherwise both anniversary issues demand an equal read. India Today with a treasure trove of historical tidbits and Outlook’s contemporary reflections.

Both anniversary issues are a must have. At Rs. 15 (Outlook) and Rs. 20 (India Today) how much better can it get?

I grew up with India Today and Outlook was a conscious choice as an adult. Both are politics crazy, Outlook overzealously cricket crazy and both seasonally sex crazy.

I still remember the first issue of Outlook. My brother visibly proud of his ‘discovery,’ threw it across to me and said, “Its good.” The IPKF fiasco in Sri Lanka is the earliest I can trace back my affair with India Today.

Both magazines I read back forwards. Outlook for its Diaries and India Today for the eye-catching Eyecatchers.

Old habits led me to do the same with the anniversary issues, but it was disappointing. No diary and no buxom babe.

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