I am sitting here in Hyderabad with three magazines spread across the table. India Today, The Week, and Frontline.
It is January 2026. The dates on the covers are future-dated to next week, but the paper is real, heavy, and smells of ink.
I belong to a generation that saw the beginning of serious magazine journalism in India. Decades ago, when I could not afford to buy feature magazines like Society or Savvy off the rack, I would buy them used—literally for their weight in scrap paper.
That habit—buying words for scrap value—laid the foundation for who I became. From starting a magazine in my school to helping found one in college, the discipline of reading edited, curated thoughts shaped my mind.
The Contradiction of Speed
We live in a world where information is supposed to be fast, free, and digital. We are told that print is dead, that attention spans are shattered, and that nobody reads long-form anymore.
Yet, here is India Today celebrating 50 years. Here is The Week (dated January 11, 2026) running a heart-wrenching, on-the-ground report about Sri Lankan landmines injuring people three decades after the war ended.
We assume that because we have smartphones, we are better informed. But scrolling is not reading. Information is not context.
The Missing Giants
Looking at these covers, I feel a specific phantom pain for The Illustrated Weekly of India.
For a long time, it was the magazine. Under editors like Khushwant Singh in the 70s, it was provocative and unputdownable. Under Pritish Nandy in the 80s, it was modern and sharp. I still miss their voices.
So what happened? The Times of India group shut it down in 1993. The official reason was the rising cost of newsprint and the arrival of satellite TV. But in reality, it was the first casualty of "faster is better." We traded deep features for newspaper supplements and 24-hour news cycles.
The Anchor in the Stream
India never quite built an equivalent to The New Yorker. However, holding these copies today, I realize The Week and Frontline are our version of The Atlantic. They are the pause button in a fast-forward world.
While India Today offers a collector’s look at "The Remaking of India," the others remind us of the work left to do.
- The Week: A tearful story of resilience in Sri Lanka. It is a story you cannot scroll past.
- Frontline: A detailed history of labor rights in India from 1860 to today. This comes from The Hindu Group, a publishing house founded in 1878 that has historically valued editorial independence over commercial noise.
I don't have a digital subscription to any of these. I am tempted to get one. But there is something about the physical act of turning a page that forces you to respect the content. There should be a book about what makes these magazines survive when so many others faded into nostalgia.
The Small Shift
In this week's rush to productivity, buy a magazine. Not for the news, but for the pace. Read a story that has nothing to do with your industry. It might just be the best investment you make, even if you buy it for scrap value.
Thank you to the journalists who are still writing.
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