What an Outlook!

I have been a fan of Outlook magazine, since the time I became acquainted with it in 1997. I remember the USP of Outlook was the sensational stories it would flash.

It was Outlook that revealed India’s Worst Kept Secret. It was Outlook who sporadically kept mentioning about the changing sexual attitude of Indian middle-class (Kama Chaos, Male Vanity, Desi Viagra, He Sleeps like a Baby); it was Outlook who called Dawood, a Public Enemy No. 1, and Pakistan, a Failed State.

It was Outlook that hoped Sonia Gandhi would revive the Congress party – something she magnificently did.

It was Outlook again that described the changing life-styles of post-liberalized India (Food Mood, The Trendy Conservative, Small Town Big Money, Big Fashion Hoax), but it was also the Outlook that didn’t missed out on the have-nots, the unfortunate majority.

At times Outlook was mischievous; other times, it was concerned; at times entertaining; at times questioning, and questioning boldly, too.

Outlook presented all ideas of life, ideas that can influence your own outlook, as well. Any other magazine would have done the same. But, not the way Outlook did it.

If you ask me, I’d say: Outlook is wonderful, a delight, outrageous, at times unreasonable, even funny. It is also reasonable, inspiring, titillating, provoking, biased, and unbiased, too.

Outlook is beautiful, but it’s ugly too. It is brazen – and I love it for that. It is foolishly smutty and snobby - and I hate it for that.

Outlook is a magazine that approximates the world around quite intrestingly. And, that is the reason it’s numero uno among all weeklies in India.

Its editor-in-chief, the witty Vinod Mehta, had the following to say when the magazine completed nine years, a few months back. If you read this, you can gauge as to what makes Outlook so adorable to so many.

Over to Mr. Vinod Mehta:

http://www.outlookindia.com/diary.asp?fname=Diary&subsubsecname=Delhi&fodname=20041025&authorname=Vinod+Mehta