50 not out: A Gujarati magazine beats the odds

The battle for life has been an ongoing one for newspapers and magazines for years now. While many succumbed, many more are putting up a brave fight. And among the brave ones is ‘Arth Sankalan’, an economics and trade magazine published in Gujarati, which overcame financial and logistical hurdles to complete 50 years in June.

Started as a bi-monthly by KG Shukla, who was a professor with the HL College of Commerce, on an investment of Rs 3,000 (pulled out from his own pocket), Sankalan’s first issue was published in June 1967.

Sitting behind his desk at home, which doubles up as the office of ‘Sankalan,’ at Parth flats in Ambawadi, managing editor and retired professor SB Vora, who was on board from the start as editor, recalls the earlier days.

“Initially, we used to write the address of our subscribers on envelops. Our revenue came from half yearly subscriptions and advertisements from banks and mills. Then banks were centralised and mills shut down. There was no scope to get government ads because that requires a circulation of minimum 2,000 copies. So our ad revenue dried up. The magazine remained ‘ad-free’ for years. Now, we occasionally get ads from well-wishers.”

“We managed …read more