Why I Love To Hate <i>Outlook</i>

For me, Outlook lurches between the enlightening and the infuriating. My feelings oscillate sharply between two conflicting emotions—they swing from issue to issue. When the magazine promotes India-bashers and peddlers of India’s poverty, modern-day Katherine Mayos such as the self-seeking, literary award-winning publicist, who is also a self-styled goddess of small, lost things, I am infuriated. I resolve to scrap my subscription each time her long harangues are published, but then I recall some brilliant investigative reports that have contributed to the making of contemporary Indian journalism. So, I continue to be a subscriber; have been one from Day One. I like Outlook’s irreverence, bordering on audacity. I hate its political agenda because it clashes with mine. But since it never ducks from taking a position on issues, I admire its courage of conviction. On the whole, I am still counting petals: I love it, I love it not, I hate it, I hate it not…

(Dr Chandan Mitra is a BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha and editor of The Pioneer)

Outlook invites readers to take part in its 20th anniversary celebrations. Send us your bouquets and, more importantly, your brickbats. E-mail your entry to editor [AT] outlookindia [DOT] com