It is not known whether Narakasura, the demon slain by Lord Krishna, included the publication of bulky supplements (called malars) in addition to new dresses, sweets and crackers as celebratory items of DeepavaliMalars mean flowers, but these malars are not merely flowers; they are colourful chaplets made from them. Being bumper issues printed on art paper in colour, they run into 300-400 pages, a heavy affair requiring wrist power from the senior citizenry, who may like to read them lying in bed.
Malars are a clever blend of reading matter and advertisements, the latter sought so that the till in the newspaper/magazine office will ring, bringing music to the ears of the proprietors. Malars are their bonus.
A few Tamil journals go thematic. Topics like ethnic food, handicrafts, folk dance, travelogue and such are handled in depth with colourful photographs, alongside articles on topical musts like Chandrayaan and Keezhadi.
There are a crop of special scribes who write once a year, like seasonal birds visiting a sanctuary. Fiction is also given a pat on the back. Care is taken that the theme does not make the reader woebegone but joyous. A travelogue to a far-off Timbuktu by the photojournalist will highlight the flora and fauna or the frescos and statues. More of them without heads or limbs, the merrier.
A young actress’s day out in an orphanage, where she will be the life and soul of the party, lighting sparklers or feeding the kids with sweets may be a star feature. Jokes contributed by a band of writers, who can churn out oodles of them, will be sprinkled as comic relief with an eye on the layout.
The editor of the journal putting together the Deepavali number, balancing the ad and text mix, may be foxed by a snooty writer past his prime, who might have sent a copy that should go into spam. His job is unenviable as he has to read puerile stuff and be alert as this anecdote will exemplify.
Ki Va Jagannathan, the eminent Tamil scholar, was once going over the layout of a story in Kalaimagal, a respected literary journal under his editorship. The illustration was of a young couple in a garden during Deepavali night, a full moon shimmering in the sky. With a curious smile he asked the artist to explain from where the moon appeared during the night of Deepavali, which always falls on a new moon day!