There are reasons why I still read Times , as it used to be called lovingly. I mean it’s still called Times, but lovingly?
What are the reasons? One, there is nothing better in this part of the world that reaches your doorsteps early in the morning (for instance, The Hindu which many people recommend, reaches Pune/Mumbai late in the afternoon, at the earliest!). Two, Jug Suraiya. Three, the occasional Third Ed.
Yes, Times is still a better option than the Indian Express, for instance, which is plain pathetic. But it really hurts to see a paper losing it’s quality so fast! What a slide.. I remember sitting with the Sunday Times Supplements through most of the Sunday afternoon.. Now I don’t even glance at it - It makes me wanna puke (to paraphrase Holden Caulifield, from the Cather in the Rye). The middle page is good at times, but the rest is just like yellow pages for the Times Group.
A newspaper is supposed to raise the level of public discourse, in my old world ethics at least. Times has sold itself to masses, in the worst ways. Maybe that’s what happens when you start measuring your successes in silly number games. But at the end of the day (or rather at its start), you crave for quality not who’s the ’’most read’’ and all that.
When you’ve grown up with something, it’s hard to abandon it one fine day. But I’m afraid, one of these days I’ll need to do that; I’m better off reading some online portals like Rediff/Sulekha.