One of the great advantages of being at your home place for training is the unbelievable amount of time at your disposal to pursue one’s interests. Though initially I had the feeling that this ample time may lead to boredom at home, these undesirable thoughts were quickly dispelled from my mind within days of my arrival in the picturesque city of doon. For I found an unusual friend with whom I could not only spend a lot of time but can also share my feelings, my emotions, my passions.

For ranging from everyday politics to the French open , from Shashi Tharoor’s candidature for the post of General Secretary at UN to the ups & downs of fifa world cup, & now from Federer’s wimbledon to the recent terror strikes at Mumbai. It has indeed been a fascinating journey for me, for which I had the fantastic opportunity to cover with a true & sincere companion , who is none other than unarguably the most wholesome & accomplished newspaper of India: The Hindu.

Infact, my friendship with this legendary paper dates back to my hostel days, when I had a glimpse of the various flavours that this paper offered. But unfortunately due to time constraints, I could not do full justice to this friend of mine & had to opt for TOI. Its not that I didn’t like TOI, but “The Hindu” is on a different level altogether.

For no newspaper today can feed you with such a wide variety of news in one hand & on the other hand, carry out such detailed discussions on various contemporary issues that keep you engaged forever. Since its inception in 1878 as India’s national newspaper, “The Hindu” has not looked back. At first glance, the first thing about the paper that arrests your attention, is its well structured presentation. Everything about the paper seems to have an aura, charisma & royalty attached to it. And at the same time its sincerity, faithfulness & great discipline, inculcates a sense of attachment towards the paper.

If the front page is awesome & spectacular, then the ensuing pages which cover regional, national & international news keep up the rhythm. There is a continuity & freshness about the paper that is simply amazing. But if there is one thing about the paper that clearly separates it from everyone else, like a glowing titan among pearls, like an icing on the cake it is :

‘The Editorial page’. It carries on its left hand side two articles discussing about the most recent piece of news & what articles they are!!! An absolutely literary treat, you would not find more informative articles inter dispersed with high quality vocabulary any where else that leave an ever lasting impact on you. But my favourite one is the right hand side of this page which pertains to a complete & detailed account of contemporary issues along with treasured opinions from the experts themselves. Anybody of you all who is preparing for a competitive exam like CAT,GRE etc. which requires awareness about current topics, you can’t afford to miss this one as this is a must read. For you rarely find a discussion of such high quality & holistic approach. A ‘Cartoonscape’ right below it is a mocking revelation of political issues. Then comes “letters to the editor”, your chance to express yourself & let out your emotions, your feelings. This again is very interactive. On the next page is Paul Krugman’s column, which is too good to be left unattended. Right beside it, most of the times there is an interview of a world renowned personality, which is your chance to be one on one with the famous people of our time.

Another distinctive feature of the paper is its special coverage of sports in its ‘Sports page’. In fact, it is the most complete, updated & well compiled sports page that you will ever find ranging from 2 to 3 pages. The best thing being the special colored photo feature that is a part of it, for it is a visual spectacle worth a look atleast. The only page, that perhaps, is not quite able to maintain the otherwise very high standards generally set by the paper is the ‘Business page’. But it is also improving day by day.

The pull outs that come along with the paper are also top class. Be it the ‘Friday review’ & ‘The Young World’ that come on Friday or ‘The Hindu Magazine’ which accompany the Sunday issue. In fact all these make it the complete paper which entails to a wide age group & an ever increasing readership as well.

So through this article I don’t intend to mean that you all throw away your present newspapers & switch over to ‘The Hindu’. But I sincerely recommend to all of you who have never read it, to atleast give it a try, for you will appreciate its beauty & for those who read it already, to continue in the celebration of this paper. May your relationship with ‘The Hindu’ reach ever-escalating heights . But whatever be your opinion after reading the paper or not reading it, one thing is for sure that-

“The Hindu” is the voice of the nation & in a nutshell:
it is simply the best...