Published date: 2nd Apr 1979, New Delhi

JUST as a man casts off his old clothes only to wear new ones, says the Bhag vadgita, so does a man die only to be reborn. Somewhat the same kind of samsara was prescribed for this magazine, New Delhi. It was born in September 1978 and had six issues published. Though it did not die, it was forced into a prolonged hibernation by a printers’ strike. We decided to prolong its sleep a little longer so that we could re-incarnate it in a new form. The old New Delhi was an exclusive magazine printed on expensive paper for people who could afford to pay Rs 5 for the pleasure of a few hours of good reading. The reincarnated New Delhi in your hands is considerably larger in size, with more reading material covering a wider range of topics and without any noticeable change in the quality of its paper, printing and illustrations.

And it is made available to you at a considerably lower price. Any new magazine, if it is to survive in an already magazine-congested milieu, has to be both different and better than the others in circulation. This is easier said than done. We will endeavour to be different but there are limits to being different beyond which we cannot go. We find politics a bore-we know most readers expect a certain amount of politics in journals they buy. So we will have some politics but not so much as other magazines. We will steer clear of “who’s- who-on-whose-side” kind of political analysis that is in vogue.

We will concentrate on larger issues : the economic, ethnic and social factors that determine changes in the political kaleidoscope. Our emphasis will in any case be on social and economic problems, on art, literature and cultural affairs. These matters will form a substantial portion of this journal. We have the men and the means to give these topics better coverage than they get elsewhere.

We have lined up some of the best-known journalists of the English-speaking world to write for us on international affairs, and we have acquired exclusive Indian rights to reproduce the pick of articles published in prestigious American and British journals. Besides these, we will also have the usual magazine-fare of films, sports, gossip, bridge, chess, cross-word puzzles-and anything else the readers may want.

We believe that a magazine like New Delhi should strive to do three things : to inform, to provoke and to amuse. Information should be strictly factual and accurate. Objectivity is equally laudable-but hard to achieve. The best one can do is to admit bias where such bias exists and give the opposing point of view equal prominence. Whatever the readers say for or against a point of view will be published-short of matter which may be abusive or libellous. We will aim at focussing interest on matters of contemporary interest; and, by providing divergent points of view we will make them thought-provoking. And you will find that however serious or grim the topics we deal with, a certain amount of cheerfulness will always be breaking through. With these words and with salutations Sri Ganesaya Namah to the deity of auspicious beginnings, we re-launch ourselves on the stormy seas of Indian journalism.