ANANDHA VIKATAN

Among the many Tamil magazines published since a long time from Chennai, Anandha Vikatan is one I liked most from my high school days.

It was started by S. S. Vasan in 1928, ten years before I was born.

In those days, I used to read this weekly magazine in a public library – Azad Reading Room (Azad Vasippuchalai at Kottar very near to my home.

Anandha Vikatan means ‘Happy Jocker’ as I translate but there may be a better translation in English if you know one, I would be very glad to know.

In fact, the magazine is loved by everyone who lives in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere.

The short stories, serials, cartoons, jokes, the crisp editorial, question answers and the review of cinema are some of the contents of this wonderful magazine.

It is a weekly magazine keeping the public every time to wait for the next issue.

The magazine has grown up from a poor paper and printing to a new form today.

Thanks to the modern printing technology!

The cost is also increased considerably!

Anyway what is cheap nowadays?

The magazine is a good companion for the housewives, young boys and girls and travelers in train, bus and air.

In the olden days, the magazine published very little about cine actors, but concentrated on humorous and moral stories.

Cartoons were really super with very good inner meanings, but nowadays it changed to concentrate on publishing the photographs, interviews and life stories of glamorous girls and women who are mostly in the cine fields.

Generally, people read and relish such ‘masalas’ and thus the popularity of the magazine increased considerably among the public.

Anandha Vikatan is publishing many subsidiary specialized magazines also.

They are, Junior Vikatan, Chutti Vikatan, Aval Vikatan, Naanayam Vikatan, Sakthi Vikatan and Pasumai Vikatan.

In addition many Tamil books are also published by it.

Every Thursday, the magazine hangs on the hooks of the kiosks in Tamil Nadu and next day I presume in other States.

Every year Anandha Vikatan publishes a special issue on the Deepawali day for which one has to reserve the copy.

Such a demand for the beautifully published issue!

It costs nowadays Rs.99/- or so; I used to reserve with my paper boy and get it a week before Deepawali.

The bulky magazine (about 400 pages) is published in art paper with good photographs and very nice articles, poems, cartoons, jokes, short stories and many other interesting information.

It’s a good one to read for a week for the family and also a good volume to collect and preserve.

The hard copy of Anandha Vikatan issues is available all over the world; in addition it is in ‘on line’ also as http://www.vikatan.com/.

One can read from anywhere in the world by clicking the website.

What a tremendous improvement for a magazine started in 1928.

I think Anandha Vikatan is one of the Tamil magazines which have attracted the attention of almost all Tamilians.

I also think Anandha Vikatan will keep up its reputation as a family magazine of millions of homes in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere.