There are some things in life which u get so addicted that , it becomes a part of your regular chore.This is exactly the addiction I ’ve with TOI. This is the paper I grew up reading ’n my day is just isnt complete without reading/scanning thro’ it. Good or bad , this is one paper u cant ignore.(As evident by the number of revus on it )
First lemme compare what choices I ’ve in my hand , ’n its pros ’n cons compared to TOI .
The Hindu:
Frankly , I feel asleep as soon as I open this one.I feel there’s absolutely no full stop from its front to last page. ITs just too orthodox ’n bland . I prefer this paper for only one reason, that is for its sports section.The sports coverage is quite exhaustive compared to TOI ’n it gives equal importance to poor cousins of cricket.SOmetimes its editorial is of really very hi-quality.But this one is more inclined to happenings in Chennai , ’n damn I care less abt it . This is one area where TOI scores hi, compared to all the papers. TOI gives importance to the local events with equal leverage to national ’n international news. Sunday supplements of Hindu is absolutely boring to the core.
Indian Express:
It is the appearence ’n feel of this paper that make me to avoid this one.The quality of the paper is something like its recycled out from a kerosene xerox machine.Coming to the quality of fine print, this one comes next on my list after TOI.The supplements on Sunday are really interesting , but on weekdays it stands no where when compared to the supplemts of TOI .
Asian Age:
HA, this one is nothing but a bunch of paper pamplets , ’n it covers the happenings in hollywod ’n london with more prominence ’n is a good page turner . Its sometimes eyecatching with its gossip columns in its supplements. I feel this stands no where compared to the above.
DEccan Hearld: If u r in Bangalore , then this paper is good only for the crossword ’n the cartoon ’’Blondie’’.
Specifically coming to TOI, apart from regular news like on The editorial , its international news coverage , financial markets there r some excellent regular columns like ’’Black ’n white’’ , biased film reviews , management ’n HR related column by Dilip rajnekar, science ’n technology, real estate , Cartoons by RK Laxman, Calvin ’n Hobbes. The supplements are infact the best part that differentiates this one from others.The ’’educational times’’ is really very informative looking for career alternatives. The wednesday edition is a sellout bcoz of ’’Ascent’’ (job oppurtunities) ’n no other paper can rival this .Apart from this ’’Economic Times’’ is the only regular premier Indian edition which covers the financial markets with such depth . Infact there r many media houses in India , but none have been so aggressive in its approach , and have ventured into so many diverse fields like Indiatimes , offcourse this another different topic of discussion , so just lemme stick with TOI.
Coming very speific to MS , I am so sick of reading revus here on TOI , boz the focal point of the whole matter wud be to criticise TOI for featuring models ’n rating it 2 stars for just that sole reason with no proper justification.Can anyone highlight the cons apart from this bikini stuff? ( No revus I read so far have done that) Ofcourse everything has its cons, but disregarding all the positive aspects ’n harping only on the negative aspects calls for some introspection In many revus there is total jumbling up of facts(linking paper with websites) ’n is just written with sole intention of blatant maligning the subject in question.Sometimes I feel some ppl (holy crows) pick up the paper with a biased prejudice to blame, ’n keep looking for the photos of models ( infact deep inside they crave for such glossies ), even before reading the headlines. Any paper for that matter in any part of the world always relies on glamour , hype , patronage to sell ’n is just a marketing strategy(some popular tabloids in west r even more shocking) .Afterall they r in buisness ’n doesnt run on charity for thier finances .Now lets not stoop to the level of picking rationale behind this , bcoz without this there would be no room or word called ’’advertising ’’.
The bottomline is TOI has its share of drawbacks , but its not that bad afterall .Infact with the choices available in India , I can say that’s the best. If not lemme know which is the best choice ’n why?