Nandan, the children’s journal that is far more a collectors product for today’s generations

New Delhi: Regardless of whether on a prepare journey to one’s grandparents’ dwelling at the start of summer vacations or at home spending afternoons lazing indoors, a single companion kids in India, primarily all those in the Hindi belt, could depend on was Nandan. The children’s magazine was a favourite with younger visitors appropriate from its inception additional than five many years back.

Nevertheless, as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the media and publishing industries in India, the Hindustan Situations team decided to discontinue the publication of Nandan.

Introduced by India’s initially Key Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1964, the journal showcased him on its first cover. “He passed away just before the journal could get released in the thirty day period of November, nonetheless, his photoshoot with Nandan was currently carried out. The 1st version was a tribute to India’s very first Key Minister who was a favorite with young children,” Kshama Sharma, previous editor of Nandan, tells ThePrint.

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Fashionable but still a classic

Nandan‘s charm lay in the truth that it presented a mixture of the classic and the present day in its tales, poems, interactive columns and instructional material. “There was a trend for the journal. I go through it in the ’60s and ’70s when I was a child, and afterwards bought it for my kids in the course of the ’80s and ’90s. It is unfortunate that the custom won’t keep on any extended,” suggests 65-year-outdated Usha Goswami, a homemaker from Amritsar. “The ‘spot the 10 differences’ section was very first started by Nandan only. And I bear in mind that in the course of our time, former prime minister Morarji Desai made use of to response children’s concern,” she reminisces.

Sharma recalls, “I invested 37 yrs of my lifetime functioning with Nandan. I joined as a trainee and achieved the place of editor, and the journey was satisfying. We have seen Nandan expand. Although girls have been only a tiny component of the team, the complete environment was quite encouraging”.

Just about every day was interesting, she says, incorporating, “We made use of to read through earth literature — classics, well known children’s tales, mythological stories like those from the Panchatantra and Hitopadesha, to be involved in Nandan.”

Originally, the magazine showcased mostly mythological stories of sages, kings, deities and demons. More than time, the content material was improved to accommodate the evolving readership. “I keep in mind studying the stories of sages and sadhus, but I also don’t forget becoming released to children’s earth literature and folktales in the kind of translated stories,” Rashmi Bhardwaj, a retired instructor centered in Chandigarh, tells ThePrint.

“This was our prized possession. The only publications we ever experienced apart from our syllabus books ended up these. As soon as, cleaning the college library, I identified some uncommon and outdated editions of Nandan and considered that I experienced obtained keep of some cherished treasure,” Bhardwaj notes.

Ayushi Deb Roy, a research scholar at IIT Delhi and avid reader, remembers how Nandan served her develop the practice of reading. “I utilised to go with my dad to obtain the journal just about every thirty day period, that and Champak, and I assume they’re a important impact on how I developed my appreciate for looking through at a youthful age. The tales, colouring area and jokes have been actually entertaining for the six- or 7-yr-old me. And I definitely utilized to glance forward to looking at them.”

“I also appreciated my dad far more for the reason that he employed to choose me to this store that offered publications like this and he would allow me decide up the journals I wished to read — at times two, but when tight on budget, one,” she remembers.

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Children’s literature having a back again seat

Following extra than 50 several years of furnishing committed companionship and company to Indian young children, the journal was shut for printing this August. When ThePrint achieved out to Nandan’s editorial workforce, they declined to remark, but several pointed out personalities from Hindi literature have expressed disappointment about the discontinuation of the magazine.

बंद होनी ही थी नंदन। लम्बा समय हुआ किसी बच्चे को पढ़ते नहीं देखा इसे। अंग्रेज़ी माध्यम से पढ़ते बच्चों को माँ बाप अंग्रेज़ी में हैरी पॉटर पढ़ते-देखते ख़ुश होते हैं। उससे टाइम मिला तो गेम हैं। और बड़े हुए तो WhatsApp।

पत्रिका बंद नहीं होगी तो और क्या होगी!

— Ashok K Pandey अशोक اشوک (@Ashok_Kashmir) August 28, 2020

हिंदुस्तान टाइम्स से नंदन, टाइम्स ऑफ़ इंडिया से पराग और इंद्रजाल कॉमिक्स, दिल्ली प्रेस की पत्रिका चम्पक, दक्षिण से चंदामामा, प्रकाशन विभाग की बाल भारती की स्मृतियाँ अब भी हरी हैं। कुछ में लिखा भी। एक लोटपोट थी जो मुझे कभी पसंद नहीं आई। न अमर चित्रकथा। https://t.co/CrA7JOHKq6

— Om Thanvi (@omthanvi) August 28, 2020

Owing to a drastic drop in gross sales in the 2000s, HT Media sold Nandan to its subsidiary Hindustan Media Ventures in 2009. Kshama Sharma says it is regrettable that children are not a precedence any longer for numerous publication homes. “I don’t forget examining in a UNICEF report that little ones are overlooked since they are not able to vote. I agree with that,” she rues.

“The revenue started dropping just after the very last ten years of 20th century. Several such publications bought shut. Nandan was the only children’s magazine at the countrywide amount that continued for about 55 several years, that is partly for the reason that K.K. Birla, the proprietor of the HT Media group, had some exclusive emotional attachment with it,” states Sharma.

“Children really do not like this kind of written content now. They are engrossed in virtual truth and online video online games. Their reading through time has decreased. Who appreciates if there will be a different journal like Nandan in the long run, and even if there is, if it would still be well-known amongst little ones,” muses Goswami.

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