This Sunday, there was a lot of activity at home. You did not disappoint us one bit with clues such as ‘Reset’, ‘Recline’, ‘Reclaim’ and ‘Restore’. It was exciting to note that for a change, the younger generation did not have to wait for the man of the house to complete one satisfying run-through of The Hindu along with his morning coffee. There were enough pull-outs to cater to all age groups. That was shrewdly planned. It was like looking at the world afresh be it politics, social activities, the environment, sport, education, the arts and culture... Congratulations to the editors on reinventing the daily in a dynamic way.
Vasanta Rajagopalan,
Chennai
The “Sunday package” was a delight for readers. The supplementary magazine along with the Literary Review page was like a cherry on the cake. When I got the paper in the morning, I was confused and read the supplementary material mistaking it to be the main section without noticing the relatively less number of pages and no news reports. It was only after moving to the other section that I realised my mistake. Spotting the masthead again helped me clear my doubt. I was overjoyed to find everything to be intact and had something productive to read and utilise my leisure time. In fact every article was so relevant that it took me hours to finish reading.
Overall, the full package was a great initiative and consisted of sections which even other standard newspapers lack. It was value for money.
Md. Mobbashir Farid,
New Delhi
The relaunched edition is impressive and rich in content. The slew of new sections are a boon to ardent readers like me. The expansion of The Magazine and the reintroduction of the Literary Review will now add more charm to Sunday reading. What is even more welcome is that the Open Page section has been brought back to the Sunday edition. No other Indian newspaper provides such extensive and wide-ranging reading material like The Hindu does. In this age of e-communication and with much to read online, The Hindu ’s bold step in providing a bulked up Sunday edition to its readers is commendable. Many thanks for attempting to redefine the art of newspaper reading.
R. Sivakumar,
Chennai
I am a resident of Chennai and a reader since 1973. After getting the Sunday edition, I kept pinching myself to confirm that it was The Hindu and not The New York Times ! Coverage of national and international events and the wide range of subjects have enhanced readability. The only change I deprecate is the reduced space, in the print edition, given to The Letters to The Editor column, even though the practice of publishing other deserving letters in the online edition is welcome. In the revamped Hindu are readers’ views no longer important?
V. Jayaraman,
Chennai
Going by some of the opinions published, it appears that the revamped version has been largely welcomed by its readers. Being a reader for more than four decades, a senior citizen like me may take some time to get acquainted with its changed style — which is quite natural. But I have two grievances. I find that the fonts have been reduced and the space allotted for letters has been reduced. The Hindu is the only newspaper that gives some importance to the opinion of its readers and I request the editors not to kill this unique element.
C.K. Saseendran,
Bengaluru
It is regrettable that the space for letters has been reduced. For many readers, one of the compelling reasons to read The Hindu is because of the space it allocates to publish readers’ letters. This precious and unique legacy of The Hindu should not be lost sight of. The Sunday edition is a reader’s delight and the Open Page has rightly returned to its Sunday slot. However, there is one lacuna here — the absence of poetry, the elixir of thought. Please consider including one contemporary short poem in the Open Page or elsewhere.
Matthew Adukanil,
Sagayathottam, Thakkolam, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
The new design is elegant in some places but puzzling in others. Every five years, the editors seems to engage the services of a designer who goes back to a much older look — for example, having a black masthead, dotted lines separating articles, changing the name ‘Op-Ed’ instead of ‘Perspective’ and then trying to pass it off as a ‘revamp’ or an ‘overhaul.’ When readers start complaining, it quietly tries to revert to the design that was already in place before.
The most disappointing part of the change now is that there is no space on the Editorial page for ‘Cartoonscape.’ The Hindu should continue to be the newspaper that is known to devote such a large space for cartoons. This will be in-step with the editor’s message that graphics should “communicate content, rather than compete with it for attention”. Second, I really hope The Hindu rethinks its decision to allow the ‘Corrections and Clarifications’ section to now encroach on the “Letters to The Editor” column. There needs to be space for letters.
Ritvik Chaturvedi,
New Delhi
Perhaps the designer has gone a bit overboard — too much colour, void space, compartmentalisation, etc. It is difficult to figure out instantly which is a news story and which is not, because of titles to every block. On the Ground Zero page, was a half page photograph necessary? The earlier look, layouts and classifications were just about perfect.
I can recall another instance of a famous yet botched up design change. The first generation Maruti Zen car was a classic timeless design, called the jelly bean design. Its appeal was somewhat lost in the subsequent minor design tweaks. Then came the tasteless change in the form of the Zen Estilo. With some modern day design elements and materials, the original design would have remained, yes, timeless. Finally, all said and done, you are a newspaper — a very admired, respected one at that — and news and current affairs must remain at least 90% of your focus.
M. Balakrishnan,
Bengaluru
The Hindu on Sunday in its new avatar looks like a pair of twins vying with one another to attract its readers. Each twin is attractive and informative. On top of this, the magazine section seems to say, “I won’t be lagging behind.”
P.U. Krishnan,
Udhagamamadalam
The redesign makes reading the news more attractive. It will a few days for me to get used to the changes. The new Editorial and OpEd pages have a new feel and look good. I request the editors going back to the blue colour for the masthead. It was decent and had class.
Gokulavasan C.,
Akkamapettai, Sankari, Salem, Tamil Nadu
The changed format and presentation are neither appealing nor inspiring. They do not reflect The Hindu ’s tradition and originality. Some of the contents/items in both the main edition as well as the supplements appear to be thrust upon us and lacking in vitality, at least for readers in my part of the world. It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint specific items.
C.V. Vasudevan,
Chennai
I am an 85-year-old man and have been reading The Hindu for the past 60 years. Even now with proper reading glasses, reading your daily is quite a task. I think we need to have micro-reading lenses. Please go back to the old font.
V. Jagannathan,
Coimbatore
