Marathi magazine set to print 1,000th issue

Between 1990 and 1995, when about 300 Marathi magazines went out of print, there was one team in Pune that decided to doggedly continue the publication of their magazine, Srushtidyan. This magazine that was considered the pioneer of Marathi science journalism, survived the worst and is now all set to see its 1,000th issue.

After 1990, with the advent of private television channels, the reading habit of people gave way to watching television. The change led to the demise of many popular magazines. Amidst these changes, the chances of the survival of magazines that popularised science were even rare. Even a reputed science publication of the biggest publishing company could not also survive in the changing environment. But in Pune, a group of science enthusiasts working with quiet determination and eventually suffering financial losses continued the publication of Srushtidyan, a science monthly in Marathi.

Srushtidyan, which literally means knowledge of nature, has a long history that culminates in a milestone on July 22, when the 1,000th issue of the magazine would be published. It is the 84th year of the magazine started on January 1, 1928. It has survived the Second World War, change of ownership and rapidly changing social and cultural milieu in the country after independence.

The magazine was started by GR Paranjpe, a faculty of physics in the Institute of Science in Mumbai (which was then called the Royal Institute of Science). Paranjpe went to Germany for higher education. But he returned during the First World War as Germany did not want citizens of British Empire in their country.

During his stay, Paranjpe had seen the advantages of science and technology that Europe was enjoying. So, on his return he started initiatives for popularisation of science in India. Publishing a Marathi magazine for the purpose was a part of those efforts.

In the first editorial, Paranjpe had said ‘days of worrying after watching the development of Western world and our ignorance of those scientific subjects, are over. So, we are launching Srushtidyan to start action’.

Right from the initial period, notable scholars in the field of science and technology contributed to the magazine. In the early days, scientist Dinakar Karve, the son of Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve, was one of the contributors.

The magazine’s content has always been rich to be published as a book with compilation of articles. One writer wrote a series of articles Adhunik Shastrasambhar (modern weaponry) during the Second World War. The articles were later published as a book.

The tradition of articles in the magazine leading to books still continues.

A science writer and a faculty in University of Pune’s (UoP) physics department, Sanjay Dhole believes that he became an established science fiction writer because of Srushtidyan. Most of his stories first published in the magazine were then published in a book format.

The magazine’s editor, Nirnanjan Ghate, who has been working with the magazine for more than four decades, says the financial support provided to the magazine by the Mahatma Phule Museum and by MLA Girish Bapat has been crucial for its survival.
Ghate says there is a need to have more subscribers. The magazine is useful for students and schools can contribute to the cause. At present, there are 700 subscribers, mostly students, parents and schools.

In spite of the challenges, the magazine has survived over the decades and continued its endeavour of propagating science and technology in Marathi language. Medha Ujjaikar, whose M Phil research is about the magazine, concludes, ‘Srushtidyan has created Marathi terminology of science.’

The magazine was also awarded by the Maharashtra Foundation in 2000. For good reason, as reaching a 1,000-issue milestone is a rare achievement for a magazine anywhere in the world.