OVER 43 YEARS, many words have appeared and reappeared on THE WEEK’s cover, except one. ‘Scoop!’ made a solitary appearance on our 1996 cover of the Purulia arms drop case, and never reappeared despite many exclusives gracing the pages in the years that followed.
The reporter, Jon Stock, later wrote Last Word for THE WEEK. He is now an author who writes thrillers under his own name and the pen name J.S. Monroe. Jon’s wife, Hilary, is a fine-art photographer. He worked in THE WEEK and lived in Kochi for a year or so with their three children, before moving back to England.
In the cover article, Stock painted a vivid picture of Peter Bleach. “So, who exactly is Bleach, known as ‘the Milk Tray man’ because of his ability to get in and out of anywhere?” Stock asked and answered in the article. “(There is a famous television advertising campaign in Britain featuring a stealthy man in black who delivers boxes of Milk Tray chocolates to women by parachute and speedboat.) And how come he is languishing in the squalid Presidency Jail in Calcutta?”
Why am I writing about this now? This is the 30th anniversary of the case. Special Correspondent Prema Rajaram and Photo Editor Salil Bera visited Purulia and met original witnesses and other stakeholders. One of the CBI investigating officers of the case, former Kerala DGP Loknath Behera, now heads the successful Kochi Metro Rail. Senior Special Correspondent Tapash Ganguly, who contributed to the original cover, passed away in February 2023.
All this talk of spies and guns will be complete only with wine and women. Blame James Bond and shaken vodka martinis for that. But there is only wine in this issue, figuratively. There is a lot of it, and it is all Indian. Senior Assistant Editor K. Sunil Thomas looks at Indian alcohol brands that are the toast of the world, and how the Indian tippler is shedding the colonial hangover to embrace spirits born closer to home.
Having been involved in newspaper and magazine redesigns over the years, I should appreciate the thought that goes into bottle and label design. One of my pet peeves is the sarkari sticker slapped onto these finely designed labels. Lately, some labels have incorporated the statutory warning and other information into their designs. That is pre-emptive design thinking at its finest, I should say.
I should clarify that THE WEEK does not endorse the consumption of alcohol. As a media organisation, we are interested only in the industry itself and the trends it drives.
Chief of Bureau (Chennai) Lakshmi Subramanian looks at the young crop of archaeologists who are driving discoveries in Keeladi, the Iron Age site near Madurai, which has been in the news recently.
There is Ajay Kumar Ramamoorthy, who graduated in commerce before being drawn to archaeology. Victor Gnanaraj, who wanted to be an aeronautical engineer, led a team that found the first scientifically dated terracotta sarcophagus in Tamil Nadu. R. Kavya studied science and aspired to join the civil services before discovering the Konthagai burial cluster, where the ancients interred their dead. When I look at the achievements of our youth, I do not doubt that we live in wonderful times.
Let me close with the maker of mysteries. Special Correspondent Anjuly Mathai marks 50 years since the passing of Agatha Christie. On THE WEEK’s desk, editors think that half the pull lies in the name of her novels. They Do it with Mirrors, A Pocket Full of Rye, Elephants Can Remember, Murder on the Orient Express, Death On The Nile, Murder in Mesopotamia, And Then There Were None….
Do you have a favourite? And, why? I’d love to know. Merry Christmas.