Volte-face

As of 15th June 2005, I have stopped subscribing to The Hindu. From the next day, I started reading Deccan Chronicle and Indian Express. As of now, it still is a cultural shock to me. I have been reading Hindu ever since I care to remember and when it comes to brand loyalty, I guess newspaper should come next only to cigarettes (are there any ordinance for referring to to cigarettes in blogs, Mr. Anubumani?). When I was in Bangalore, I was reading The Hindu. When I went to Hyderabad, recalling the old 'When in Rome' phrase, I tried DC for a while but gave up soon to return to Hindu. Until recently, I was quite excited about Hindu's attempt to redesign their layout and even written a piece about it.

So what went wrong? A few things. The layout that I was so ardently appreciating seems to have made a huge dent in Hindu's focus on the content. Over the weeks, I figured that I was skimming the pages so fast I reached the last page even before I finished the coffee.

Hindu, in the wake of DC launching in Chennai and TOI's never-dying threat of opening a Chennai edition, wanted to somehow cater to the young readers. That without losing out on their loyal readers who are middle-aged and above. The content was diluted but not sufficiently enough to make an impact. The result was a very superficial attempt to satisfy two distinctly polarised reader group, which at least in my case, fallen flat. I strangely, belong to neither group. I relish Vikram's endless bantering on Anniyan and also lap up David Crystal's concerns about ethnic linguistic conservation. I couldn't get either of it satisfactorily in today's Hindu.

Deccan Chronicle, on the other hand, feeds me unabashedly on Anniyan to fashion shows to every Page 3 stuff I want. And Indian Express offers serious and often stinging views on current affairs. And this combination costs me 2.50/-. That is one rupee less than Hindu.

My friend and a Hyderabadi, Shyam used to call Deccan Chronicle as 'Indias only adult newspaper' and I used to joke that the publishers should print the statutory warning 'Not to be sold to minors' on DC cover. Nothing much has changed with Chennai edition except that while I willingly seek a Page 3 trash, I have Indian Express to provide the intellectual balance.

Additionally, I think, my reading pleasure is more important than the pride of loyalty. As a rebel, I should initiate and lead the 'Quit Hindu' movement. Recently when I told my friend I did this, he was surprised and said that his dad, who is in 60s, also moved to DC. I hope Hindu is watching this.