The Week is my most favourite news magazine. It is good value for the money. Published by the Malayala Manorama Group from Kochi in Kerala, it is a superb production. I get it here on every Thursday in the afternoon mail without fail.And I read it from cover to cover, going through the well written reports and features with excellent photographs. Its cover page is always striking. It suggests the cover story by printing the photograph on it, and on the very top of the cover it highlights one or two main stories. On the top right hand corner ine finds the offer like the ’Mega Offer - Win Santros’ in this week’s The Week In photo journalism, it could organise refresher courses for practising journalists. I take interest in the astrological forecasts, and therefore go through that particular page to find out what the Stars hold for me in the week ahead. Even in making astrological forecasts, The Week’s astrologer is way ahead of his counterparts who write these columns for other magazines and newspapers. From personal knowledge I know that Kerala, God’s Own Country is famous for Astrology, Ayurveda, Total Literacy Campaigns , Kathakali, Mohini Attam, Avaial, Payasam, Boat Race, Eco-tourism and last, but not the least, science popularisation. The Mahatma Gandhi University at Kottayam is a unique university. Here also the Indian Institute of Mass Communication had a branch. These are the resources from which a magazine like The Week draws its sustenance and inspiration. Way back in the early nineties, I think, The Week brought out a special issue featuring my late mother-in-law Malati Choudhuri as the Woman of the Year. The Week’s Special representative, R. Prasannan visited us at our Malaviya Nagar residence at delhi to get some photographs for the Special Issue. He had come to the Bajiraut Chhatravas at Angul in Orissa, where my mother-in-law used to stay, and was told that she had only one daughter who was no more, and she had no surviving children. So, when he came to us in Delhi, he was surprised, but, as a seasoned and trained journalist he did not make any mention of the Angul episode.
What happened to the Grand Prize Scheme of a Ford ? I was a competitor, and got my early bird prize of a Braun Electric Shaver, very handy and efficient. And I am waiting for the results of the Grand Prize Scheme. Even on the Address Label of the magazine, one finds the word Ford, suggesting that I am still in the fray. Am I hoping against hopes ?