CHITRALEKHA SPECIAL DIAMOND JUBILEE ISSUE (60TH ANNIVERSARY)

Chitralekha @60
Does not the age of 60 years give you the right to take a pause, take stock of things around you and yes, to take a look back to judge for yourself how things went so far? Was the journey worth the effort and time you have spent on it? Does it give you the sense of joy that you expect to feel while looking back? In short, do you feel happy at the way things have gone so far? And this is what Chitralekha has sought to do this time.

For once, Chitralekha is the news rather than being a mere vehicle of news. With the completion of its sixty years, your beloved magazine has paused to glance at the last six decades of its journey. However, the primary objective of this indulgence is not to steal an opportunity for a much-needed pat on the back to flatter our ego. In fact, it is essentially to keep you apprised of the vicissitudes of the journey, what challenges it threw up, how we managed to surmount them, how despite trials and tribulations we managed to not only survive but evolve into a slick, meaningful magazine that is treated as warmly by our readers as one of their family members.   
And at Chitralekha we decided to document this trip-down-the-memory-lane and put between two covers our entire journey decade by decade to let you know that the journey, though never easy, was by all means satisfying, thanks to millions of co-passengers like you. Hence the voluminous special Diamond Jubilee Issue.

The present editor of Chitralekha Bharat Ghelani muses in a signed piece that if he had had the Time Machine, he would take a trip into the past to ask the founder of Chitralekha Vajubhai Kotak as to why on earth he thought of sacrificing his steady job and starting a new magazine instead. But start the magazine he did. And as a result we got Chitralekha, thanks to Vaju Kotak’s passions, his strength of conviction and of course his fearlessness. Well that was history and this issue records truthfully the very history its founder created.

We might however spare a thought for the man who ventured to start a magazine during the times when things presented a very bleak picture. The state of communication was scary, to say the least. Other resources were scarce. Radio had barely reached only the affluent segment. Portable recorder was unheard of. There were a handful of newspapers and only few magazines that published short stories. Against this backdrop, for an individual to think in terms of founding a magazine was nothing short of madness. But Vajubhai had that audacity that could defy any challenges and took on any attacks frontally. During this period, several magazines did see the light of the day but soon perished and were forgotten.

 Back to the Glorious Past
Interestingly, the story of last six decades is the story of India, as India became independent 63 years ago in 1947, whereas Chitralekha was born in 1950.

The long article penned by Ajit Popat and Yash Shah dissects the period of sixty years (1950-2010) into six decades and takes up journey of each decade to give you a precise idea of how it all went. No journey could ever be easy, especially that of a magazine that, in its initial years at least, cannot rid itself of existential dilemma. Though the magazine took off well and the Group kept adding more publications to its repertoire but soon ran into financial problems owing to administrative flaws. 

Similarly we have stories of each decade, how they either propelled the magazine ahead or sought to pull it back. Each decade is as interesting, exciting and suspenseful like any film with its twists and turns. It is the struggle of survival, of relentless pursuit of excellence. It is an epic journey to achieve what it set out to achieve: success. At the end of the journey lasting sixty years or 21,900 days, Chitralekha has emerged more mellowed, more mature and more enriched than ever before.     
                  
The second decade saw rise of something that proved a gamechanger in the destiny of Chitralekha. After the demise of Vajubhai, Harkisanbhai Mehta took over and his debut novel based on the true story of dreaded dacoit Jagga Daku instantly proved a runaway success. One novel was to change the fortune of its author-who was on his way to becoming the bestseller author in Gujarati-as well of Chitralekha. To run the risk of using a cliché, since that success, Chitralekha never looked back. 

The third decade was to see the entry of another giant who created a miracle. Tarak Mehta created the character of an incorrigible brat Tapudo and kept weaving stories of his exploits in a middle class milieu teeming with other relatable characters. To use another cliché, the rest was history. The Humour column has been running uninterrupted till today. 

The story of following decades is no less interesting as it carries all struggles Chitralakha underwent to reach where it has reached today. At 60 you tend to look aged and perhaps jaded but the process of evolution has worked in reverse for the publication as it looks younger, more energetic, more contemporary and trendier.

Kokilabahen Dhirubhai Ambani Speaks to Chitralekha
Besides the marathon history there are other features in the issue. Perhaps the most outstanding story of the issue is a scoop of sorts for the magazine. That is the interview of Kokilabahen Dhirubhai Ambani.

The very name Kokilabahen Dhirubhai Ambani evokes respect and admiration and conjures up the picture of a strong-willed, determined woman. A woman of immense conventional wisdom but of few words, Kokilabahen has emerged as a strong woman who quietly but steadfastly stood behind her husband in all his endeavours and is believed to have played a major role in his unprecedented success saga.

However, when it came to media, Kokilabahen fiercely guarded her privacy and consistently shied away from giving any interview to any publication. The woman who has bonded and held the family together is also known for the dignified silence she has diligently maintained all these years. She has never spoken about herself.

However, for the first time, Kokilabahen, in her first ever interview (with Taru Kajaria) shares with Chitralekha, the largest circulated Gujarati news cum features weekly,  her thoughts on her life, her legendary husband, her childhood, her parents, her family, her life in Aden, the new technology and how women are coming of age in modern age India.

Stalwarts Roped in
Besides Kokilabahen interview, the issue carries scores of scoops, so to speak. It may remain a matter of speculation but one wonders how Chitralekha managed to rope in the who’s who of India. The names who have written for the Special issue of Chitralekha include Dr. A P J Kalam, Mukesh Ambani, Nilesh Nilekani, Javed Akhtar, L K Advani, Jayram Ramesh, Sam Pitroda and the list is pretty long and looks never-ending in terms of number as well as of importance.

Dr. A P J Kalam characteristically, in his inimitable style, strikes a positive note by emphasizing that despite illiteracy and poverty our country has a treasure of youth power that will guide us to our goals.

L K Advani too sounds optimistic when he says that the day is not far when we will emerge as an economic super power. He however cautions that we are yet to win our battles on several fronts.

Mukesh Ambani leaves us in no doubt about his attitude when he, like a true captain, calls upon the youth of the country to take up unlimited opportunities that are available. He finds our present generation extremely talented.

Kapil Sibal talks about the subject that is close to his heart: education. He stresses that the world over they are researching away in this field to seek as to how to satiate children’s hunger for knowledge.

Jayaram Ramesh looks convinced that there cannot be hopes for long lasting development at the cost of ecology. He disapproves of the fact that in our country demand for maintenance of environment is suddenly looked upon as an anti national activity.

Sam Pitroda, the Guru of modern communication in India, categorically says that information is super power in today’s world. What is however needed is the infrastructure to reach it to people at large.

Nilesh Nilekani is the man behind the ambitious Unique Identification Project recently launched by the UPA-2. He sounds hopeful that this scheme will prevent misuse of governmental funds and ensure that fruits of relief reach the remotest corners of rural India.
The RTI man Shailesh Gandhi believes that though the government has done a good job by introducing the Right to Information but ironically the government itself has become its greatest impediment.

Gautam Adani, the highly dynamic industrialist stresses the importance of transport infrastructure that is lifeline for success story of any nation.

Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia invites the Generationext to enter politics and adds that if you are a nationalist with goals of global welfare, coupled with transparency, you are welcome in the world of politics.

Julio Ribero shows you how to cope with the menace of separatists. Isolate them. He is convinced that this is the only way to win our wars against terrorism and naxalism.

The Management Guru Dr. Bakul Dholakia rues that there are not enough competent management faculties. Once we have them and we can raise the bar of management education, there are thousands of students ready in the wings to take up the challenge. His contemporary N V Vasani says this is the time to create new order with total freedom and wonders how it is possible.
Jignesh Shah, the low profile corporate honcho exhorts you to grab the opportunities that are available aplenty. He strikes an optimistic note by emphasizing that the 21st century belongs to India. Deven Choksy asks the investors not to let this opportunity for investment go by.

The well-known cricket historian Boria Mazumdar gives an interesting account of the cricketing fans and their cricketing heroes whom they have been worshipping for the past six decades.

We also have an authentic name from the world of Fashion Nita Lulla who says how the designer trend gatecrashed into Bollywood in the post-seventies scenario.

Sanjay Kothari shares with us that India is once again becoming a global jewellery hub.

While Javed Akhtar, renowned script writer and poet takes a nostalgic trip down the musical lane, Madhur Bhandarkar talks about the filmmakers whose styles appealed to him. Sajay Chhel seriously talks about the comedy of last six decades in Bollywood.
Apart from the above, we have regular features and columns including political column, Cardiogram, Zalak etc. In his own individual style, Madhu Rye talks about the Indian desi in America and how they made a mark there. We have irrepressible Tarak Mehta who reminisces how he conceived of his most famous character Tapudo. Through his piece, late Harkisan Mehta takes us back to the world that was close to the readers’ hearts.

And on the occasion of completion of sixty years Ishita gives 16 Elchis, one of them is given below:

Ishita’s Elchi
If you want to be successful, there are only two ways
Do what you love or love what you do..!!