Aug 2010

Well, it’s that time of the year when almost all magazines, that have reached their anniversary pat themselves on the back and say sweet little things about how wonderful their readers are and how much they love bringing the magazine to all of mankind.

But the truth is that I have learnt a lot in the past three years, and today, I do realize that our growth as an organization is in sync with how the magazine has been appreciated through the last 36 months.

To tell you the truth, the first year was all about how we came out with the magazine and the second year was about how much the readers had loved our material and boy-o-boy we loved the accolades (we still do). But the last year has been difficult, not because we were not doing well, but because it is far more difficult to remain the number one magazine in the region than actually getting there. Today, I know the value of remaining consistent.

On a personal note, the core team has remained intact and we have had a few additional members joining us. But the fact that the founding members still feel the pain of criticism, which is leveled at times against the magazine, is an indication that it’s still a passion for us and not just a job.

Last year we expanded to the metros and we also became the first northeast magazine to be available in the Delhi airport. Our sales have grown from strength to strength and we have also managed to increase our pages in the magazine from 48 to 120 pages.

This has been a great journey and I have learnt a lot, but the biggest lesson for me has been that TNT rules for the fact that we did not sell out on our ideology and remained firmly honest to what we believed in. To some bitter critics, this may be difficult to digest, but all I can say is that we are in this ‘for the passion of it and not just money’ and that is our mantra for success.