Old Bottle recycled to pour old wine - tastes good -- The Crest Edition, The Times of India

I had to make at least three rounds to newspaper vendors before I could lay my hands on Times of India’s (TOI) latest recycled research The Crest Edition. `Now on your stand,' remained unavailable until well past 9 am here in Pune .’ Unlike some of TOI’s earlier re-renovations (sic) no complimentary copy was on offer. I should have taken seriously the advertisement that preceded its publication, `book your copy now.’ But as it turned out the vendors too hadn’t taken it seriously Result they spend most of the morning telling readers why they didn’t have one on their counters. I got three different reasons from three different vendors. One of them let the truth out, the TOI circulation department never told them they would have to buy it the very first day and they let it go.

Now to the edition itself. The moment the vendor declared the cover price, my 11-year-old son let out a `Arey baap re.’ Rupees six for a newspaper!! He had already warned me not to reach out for the Economic Times. ``Its Saturday Baba,’ he screamed reminding me of an earlier blunder when I got fleeced for rupees nine without being given much to read about return.

I liked the edition. It has a distinct new look, though I couldn’t help comparing it to a similar product that TOI brought out 20 years ago called `The Independent.’ It was meant to counter the `The Post,’ which was fast luring away the young brigade, giving the TOI a good run for its money. Vinod Mehta, like always had done a superb job, and got all heads turning right on day one. Incidentally I was already following it in its dummy form since prelaunch, -- the copies being available even at the small town I lived in those days. Unfortunately it closed down too soon. Not because it ran a story saying Morarjee Desai and Yaswantrao Chavan were American spies, but because it had served its purpose in closing down The Post. TOI has elaborate ways to crush out competition.

So the only big difference between the Independent and the Crest is the Independent was black and white. I have a feeling that some of the (re)design people in Crest are the same ones who designed the Independent. I found reading it to be a very comfortable exercise. And there were no childish-youngish articles that made me feel that having crossed forty I no more belonged to this world. It respects the middle age. Good political stories, assuring us they are not yet old fashioned.

There were two articles on English language trends, one Mahafreed Irani and the other by Chiddanand Rajghatta. I am sure Chiddu wrote it in a haste, meaning running against time, not short on information, he was away ahead of the other article. When it comes to the English language, I guess it would be far more interesting getting a linguist to analyze Chhidu than him performing surgery on someone else.

As often in oratory, more than the speaker himself or his content, what’s important is how he has said it, so also in journalism, more than the content it is the packing that matters.

See Also : http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?section_id=5&news_id=36120&tag=32047

American Entrepreneurship Literature

Through books, I keep following the entrepreneur developments in the United States. The first book I ever read was an abridged and simplified version on Chrysler’s autobiography --- Man and Machines http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler . I loved it. I read and reread it through my high school ( 1982-84). Stacked in the shelf of books that my father had built up, I happened to lay my hands on it at a time when books had just begun to fascinate me. I really don’t believe my father ever read that book. He would have recommended it to me, otherwise.

The book was about Chrysler’s dream, resolve, determination and desire to be his own man. He had a mechanic bend of mind. He would bring in a car, and instead of driving his family in it, lay it bare in front of his house, disassemble it to the smallest part and then assemble it back, imbibing all the technology that went into it.

The book, as I said, was an abridged version, and every page revolved round the most interesting episode from the original one. Some of the incidents were quiet interesting, like the time when Chrysler, having been promoted as foreman, realized he no more had to work with his hands, but just his brain. That talked of the confidence he had in his own self as someone who could direct people, rather than just sit in a corner and fit machines.

It wasn’t about the consumer, though I got to read a lot about discipline and punctuality and devotion to one’s work in it. It had a lot to do about his pride and ego. But I liked those few fifty odd pages.

The book had plenty of things to tell about what was happening to the Chrysler family, as he moved up the ladder on the American Corporate world. He talked at great length about his mother. How she held the family together in times of crisis.. And like all American idols, (mine) I loved the way they took to work at an early age, either as a salesman or a utility man. I find that the best lessons American entrepreneurs took was during these time of their life. It had humour, It talked about the mentor who molded him, about the lessons he learnt o his own, about the innovative solutions he tried, like drawing water from the ground. Tube wells were unheard of at that time.


I did not plan it, but it so happened that the next book I read on American corporate world, was Lee Iacocca's http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Iacocca, An autobiography, in 1987, while I was at college. This man talked about how he pulled it out of bankruptcy the car manufacturing company named – Chrysler.