CHANGE WITH CHANGE

I can't resist writing more about Mallik. The way he moulded and adapted himself to the new changes is amazing. He must be one of the few writers who predicted rightly the plight of the weekly magazines, the circulation of which stated declining rapidly after the emergence of IT. With IT infrastructure comparable to that in developed countries in place in all the major metros of India, the few previleged ardent fans of literature now use internet to read their favourite novels. For the others to whom these magazines just meant a way of killing time, there are a plethora of 'sas - bahu' and 'pinni' soaps on the TV.

There has also been a considerable shift in the reading habits in general. Not only have we started reading less, but we now read more of english publications now. It is very apparent - be it koti in Hyderabad or priya/chandinichowk in Delhi - the english books are everywhere. The readership of online newspapers and magazines is growing at a rapid pace - they are for free and offer flexibility of location. Today, I read Eenadu only on net. Mallik must have seen this coming. He became the editor of teluguone.com, a typical website with a mix of free and paid services. It has a library of few novels, weekly and daily serials and columns, paid movie and TV services, forums and mail options and has latest DVDs on sale. It is doing well, although it lacks the popularity of the likes of andhravilas. A great idea and a timely shift.

cartoon 7 

cartoon 6 

cartoon 5 

cartoon 4 

cartoon 3 

cartoon 2 

REDISCOVERING MALLIK

This is the first month of the third trimester, which means I have nothing to do after the classes. The serial quizzes are yet to begin and I am on my voyage of discovering new ways of TP (time pass, in our lingo). That is when I suddenly stumbled upon a Mallik's cartoon in ABBACHAAAA (If you orkut and if you are a gult, chances are that you know this community). Lots of googling and an hour later, I end up with lots of cartoons and updates on Mallik.

On the Republic Day of 2006, the first holiday of the trimester, I miss the parade on TV and discover a treasure trove of cartoons and a site called www.teluguone.com. Mallik was one of my favourites since childhood, back in the times when real paper magazines like andhrabhoomi used to pay a visit to my home. He is probably one of the best telugu cartoonists ever, in the league of Sridhar and Ragati Pandari. He used to write serials and even scripted and directed a film called Parugo Parugu. That was the last I heard of him - that the film left him with huge financial loss. Later the magazines disappeared and so did Mallik.

Now, after more than a decade, I wonder what he is upto. Just a single word googling, I think. But it doesn't turn out to be that easy a task. Thanks to all the googling expertise my MBA course bestowed me with, I finally end up with a single photo in google images, which would give a clue to the life of Mallik in 2006. I find him at photo album of TAMA, Toronto and a couple of webpages later, I confirm its the same Mallik I am looking for.

I don't know where he is now, but must have settled in USA or Canada, with his second wife. He now runs a website called www.teluguone.com, which features some of the Mallik's specials like 'Navvithe Navrthnalu' along with some daily serials, including the one by Suryadevara Rammohan Rao. Time to read some of that stuff now..... and here are some cartoons for you!

cartoon 1 

Mr. ZOOSSII

If you haven't heard the name of Mr. R.M. Joshi till now, then you are in the dark, folks! He's the author of the best selling book on International Marketing on amazon.com and ebay as is demonstrated in his class. His class, because he also happens to be our professor.

Mr. Zoossii is not very fond of Ms. Bazzaz although he has a soft corner for girls in general. He is usually generous and gives a 'BRACK' in all his classes. He is an expert in the international 'STRETAAGGGIES' and asks you to turn to 'PAAGGE' no. 453 in his book. A very colourful person, its a lay man's guess, you just have to look at his slides. Added colour to a whole trimester!

You're the color blue. You have the three c's in
life--you're cool, caring and confident.
Trustworthy and honest, people are naturally
attracted to you. You're unusually optimistic,
but that makes life all the better. You're an
imaginative person who loves sleeping and
dreaming. Hard-working and determined, you
excell in school. You're everybody's favorite,
and this is because you have this undefined
richness in your personality and attitude.
Mild-tempered and stable. Not to mention very
intelligent. Along with the fact that you're
conservative, you're worried about the
environment. So basically, you're a generous,
dependable and devoted--just the kind of person
everybody needs. Wouldn't it be great if
everybody in the world were like you?

What color are you? (Amazingly detailed & accurate--with pics!)
brought to you by

CLOUD GAZER

I'm a cloud gazer.

This fascination with clouds started some time when I was in school. I don't remember properly but I guess it must be when we were shifted to secondary section and I had this place beside a window overlooking play ground. By now as you all must have guessed, at any time you'll find me faced towards the window and my eyes fixed on the clouds. Especially in the months of January and February, when the skies are clear, very clear ( This now reminds me of the beautiful and sometimes fearfully blue skies at Jog falls - but I'll spare it for another blog). As it happens in any school, I was told off by my teachers a couple of times. But since my academic performance hadn't yet deteriorated to such abysmal levels at that time, I was spared. My benchmates nicknamed me cloud gazer then and I liked it so much that I felt I was given an esteemed title.

By the time I was in Class IX this fascination went too far and I've taken to staying on the terrace for long hours, often in a small tent like structure that dad and I managed to put up on the terrace. It was fun time. Nothing to do, nothing to bother about, just watch the clouds! My favourite ones are cirrus clouds, the ones that hang low and look like they are made of soft cotton and butter. And ofcourse those fast moving clouds after a good shower. They look the best at night when passing over the moon.

Today, I had the chance and time to go back to my erstwhile favourite hobby of cloud watching. The weather had been pleasant and cool for the last three days here at Delhi, reminding me of Hyd. Tonight, I was watching the clouds again, at night, passing over the moon, after a shower at the Top of the World. Beautiful!