50 not out: A Gujarati magazine beats the odds

The battle for life has been an ongoing one for newspapers and magazines for years now. While many succumbed, many more are putting up a brave fight. And among the brave ones is ‘Arth Sankalan’, an economics and trade magazine published in Gujarati, which overcame financial and logistical hurdles to complete 50 years in June. 

Started as a bi-monthly by KG Shukla, who was a professor with the HL College of Commerce, on an investment of Rs 3,000 (pulled out from his own pocket), Sankalan’s first issue was published in June 1967. 

Sitting behind his desk at home, which doubles up as the office of ‘Sankalan,’ at Parth flats in Ambawadi, managing editor and retired professor SB Vora, who was on board from the start as editor, recalls the earlier days.

“Initially, we used to write the address of our subscribers on envelops. Our revenue came from half yearly subscriptions and advertisements from banks and mills. Then banks were centralised and mills shut down. There was no scope to get government ads because that requires a circulation of minimum 2,000 copies. So our ad revenue dried up. The magazine remained ‘ad-free’ for years. Now, we occasionally get ads from well-wishers.”

“We managed to become a monthly magazine in 1969. There was financial crisis then, there is financial crisis now. Two years ago, Shukla expired. But, we decided to keep the magazine running,” adds Vora who keeps the show running, along with retired professor Anil Soneji, who had been supporting him as a sub-editor from the beginning. He also managed the tasks of bringing ads and collecting subscription fees from readers. Today, he also goes to the post office to mail the copies to subscribers. It’s not for nothing that the 77-year-old calls himself a clerk at ‘Sankalan.’

The magazine’s expenses now are postal charges (they have 600 subscribers), which comes to around Rs 8,000 per year, and printing and paper cost at Rs 18,000 per month. “We get by with the help of friends and well-wishers,” Vora smiles.

He feels all the struggles are worth it: “because, today there are a number of Gujarati magazines that carry articles related to finance and trade. This was what we wanted to see. Though profit was not our aim, we are a little disappointed as we haven’t managed to expand our readership.”

So, where does the content for the 32-page magazine come from? Contributors, says Vora, who still writes the editorial.

“Initially, we used to translate articles that appeared in English publications. Gradually, we found our own contributors,” says Vora, adding they are mostly professors from Saurashtra. “Back then, we used to pay them a token amount, when we still got ads. Today’s contributors write for us free of charge,” Sankalan is still printed from the same press when it started 50 years ago on Ashram road.

The birth story

According to managing editor SB Vora, during their job interviews, two of KG Shukla’s students, who had graduated with 72 per cent in commerce, could not answer questions related to their subjects in Gujarati. This prompted Shukla to start a vernacular magazine so that people would get to read about economics in Gujarati.

‘Sankalan’ at a glance

1967 Year of birth 
32 Number of pages since the start
568 Number of issues till June
200 Number of copies printed in the beginning
600 Number of copies printed as of June 2017
Rs200 Subscription rate for a year
In 1969, ‘Sankalan’ got a four-member editorial committee – CM Vakil, DT Lakdawala, Vadilal Dagli and Nirubhai Desai. It doesn’t exist anymore as all of them passed away.
On its 50th year, Sankalan asked its readers to tell them about the changes they would like to see in the magazine. 
Footnote: Sankalan has also withstood the internet storm. It does not have a website!