What role did Dharmyug magazine play in post-independence India? Read Akriti Mandhwani’s interview

New Delhi: Soon after independence, the Hindi middle class readership emerged in India. This class was more interested in consumerism than nationalist discourse. In her book ‘Everyday Reading’, academic Akriti Mandhwani, who has worked on the success of bestselling magazines like Sarita and Dharmyug, writes: shruti sonal In a conversation with IANS, she explained how she got attracted to the world of print:Instead of high-end literature or cheap novels, you focused on the middle class. How did you get interested in this?
In fact, I started researching on the famous Hindi novelist Surendra Mohan Pathak in the early 2000s. his/her books were not only of good quality, but also very expensive. he/she was presenting his/her books in such a way that those which were earlier kept hidden, were now visible to everyone in the house. This made me think about those books, paperbacks and magazines, which were neither very high-end literature, nor very cheap or pulp.

Hindi and English scholars have always looked at pre-independence books and magazines only from the perspective of literature and anti-colonial nationalism. Often these discussions were focused on making Hindi the national language. Yet in the 1950s there was a whole world of books, magazines and paperbacks, which were focused on the idea of ​​consumption. This was very different from the pre-independence era. These magazines often came in a variety of genres, so that every member of the family could get something. Their language was simple and they stayed away from nationalist ideas. Then I understood that the middle class is a class that should be studied separately.

Dharmyug magazine was a publication of the Times of India group. What role did it play in post-independence India?
Dharmyug was the most popular magazine of its time. I was very curious to know that the magazine went through many changes. First it started as a religious magazine. It often had pictures of Hindu deities and articles about pilgrimages. Along with this, there were some stories, poems and articles on literary movements. Then there was a turning point in the late 1950s. The great writer Dharamvir Bharati left the vibrant literary environment of Allahabad and took over as the editor of Dharmyug in Bombay. But even then the issues of minorities and class struggle did not get much space. However, Dharamvir Bharati made space for literary writing in the magazine.

he/she published articles on global ideas, thereby broadening the outlook of readers. During his/her time, Dharmyug proved that readers were keenly interested in reading existentialist literature written by scholars like Camus, along with pictures and stories related to Hinduism. This changes our understanding of how, how much and in what context people perceive religion. Though people have been understanding religion either as secular ideas or as Hindu nationalism, Dharmyug presented a new perspective. In it, religion and other ideas existed together. This model is very important and needs attention.

You have talked about the impact of these magazines on women. Can you explain this in detail?
I am very interested in the women readers and writers of these magazines. Pre-independence magazines often showed women in terms of service, service to family and husband and of course, service to the nation. In contrast, post-independence magazines presented women as self-confident readers. They did not need to serve literature, the nation or their husbands. These magazines were read by men as well as women. Women were writing stories in these magazines, writing about their travel experiences, sharing their views about literature and even writing about their makeup routines. Though the literacy rate was not very high at that time, these magazines were read across the country due to low prices and good postal services.

Sarita started in 1945 and Dharmyug in 1949. So a nationalistic tone can be expected. But were you surprised by the disappearance of hardcore nationalism in this hyper-nationalistic era?
One thing we should always be careful about as historians is not to impose our expectations on a time period. Personally, the anti-nationalism was a surprise to me. But I don’t think readers were so surprised then because they were open to new ways of thinking. The 1950s are often seen in the context of Jawaharlal Nehru’s ideas and plans to build a new nation or the fervour of Hindu nationalism. But many readers were looking for a new way, away from the Nehruvian outlook or the Hindutva outlook. They were also asserting their right to enjoy Hindi. For example, people often questioned the use of excessive Sanskritised Hindi in Sarita.

You make a distinction between ‘everyday reading’ and ‘literary reading.’ Has daily reading been neglected in recent times?
In my field, over the past ten years, there has been a renewed interest in the study of the history of popular print and magazines. I am pleased to see that these materials, which in the past were seen as unreadable, are now losing their appeal. Also, these “everyday” materials should be read not just for what they contain, but also for what they do not contain.

On X you have posted many photos of women reading. One even has a book cover showing Bollywood actress Meena Kumari with a book. Tell us about this.
It all started out of frustration. I was writing about women who were passionate about reading books, but I couldn’t find pictures of them. Then I told my friends and family that I needed pictures of women reading. I even searched my house to find a picture of my grandmother reading a book. Finally my friend, historian Devyani Gupta, gave me this amazing picture of Meena Kumari reading. Now I am trying to create a collection of these pictures on social media. I think pictures help us understand history and make us think about many important things.