Sunday with newspapers

When I think of Sundays, the first thing that comes to my mind is the Sunday newspaper. , If it is a Sunday, I don't think of an elaborate oil bath or sunday brunches or visits to the temple, I always look forward to skimming the pages of Sunday magazine. Even now, inspite of all the online newspapers I can never do without reading the newspaper in its printed format, with all the pages spread out on the floor in front of me.

I think it's the south Indian tradition of having the morning cup of coffee with the newspaper that is built into our daily routine, that we miss it no matter where we go. I always appreciate hotels which provide a complimentary Sunday newspaper to their guests. The Sunday edition is most attractive for its supplement that would contain miscellaneous articles on lifestyle, health, current affairs and topics of general interest. Spending about an hour going through these articles somehow eases all the tension of the week and is the best way I can start my Sunday.

When I traveled to the US, I was surprised to see my own relatives, not buying newspapers everyday in their homes. They had got used to getting the news through various other sources, and local news was more important than national news. When I tried to read the local newspapers there, I understood why people didn't want them everyday. I found them too bulky, containing a lot of junk mailers. I had to reconcile myself with altering my Sunday routine. I finally satisfied myself with a newspaper called the "Independent" which focused on art, movies and culture in North Raleigh. It was a weekly newspaper and had a lot of good movie reviews, restaurant reviews and news about local shows and exhibitions.

I think Indian newspapers play an very important role in the Indian society as they cater to a much diverse and vast population. No matter where we travel in Tamil Nadu or south India, we can be sure to get an issue of 'The Hindu' which would reassuringly have the same format excepting for a few changes relating to local news. It would be interesting to see the changes which will come when FDI is introduced to the newspaper industry. While the good changes like competition, quality of writing and reporting are always welcome, the unnecessary burden of advertising is going to be cumbersome. Newspapers in India are still focused on news rather than advertising. But slowly I guess we will be bombarded with paper, we will have to find ways to cut the paper overload, in the form of pamphlets and mailers. I don't know what will happen to my Sunday routine, I might have to spend ten minutes just removing all the junk to get to my favourite sections of the paper.