Farzana, you have been a very versatile person. Let's start from the very beginning -How did you enter the Fourth Estate?

Thru' marriage! I was doing my graduation and studying law from St. Xavier's College. Whilst studying law I met Behram at the Midday office as we were fans of Busybee and before I knew it, within 4 months time of having first met him, I proposed marriage to Behram and he accepted it and at that time there was this mass exodus from Midday that took place and Afternoon started and that's how I was in it.

What are your responsibilities as a CEO and how has your role evolved over the years?

I have been associated with the Afternoon since its inception which is almost 20 years. As a CEO, I head almost every operation-it could be from organizing, from conceptualizing what you are going to do with the paper, the people-the hiring and the firing, the property here in Mumbai- buying it as it didn't fall into our lap, we had to work for it. It's been a long journey. We are small time guys and I still think that we are small time guys in a certain manner. We are big in the newspaper world, we are big in credibility, we are big in readership and we are envy of most of the newspapers of India, but we are still small. I don't think big honestly.

They thought perhaps the publication would be very shaky. I continued to apply myself, to my job and continued on the same path and today we lead the market in a certain manner without tom tomming about it. What we are, we are thru' our hardwork, thru people's perception about us and the loyalty of our readers.

How has your role changed now compared to when Behram was around?

The only major difference now is that I look into much of the editorial whereas when Behram was around I was more involved in discussions. I am much more hands-on now and I have got an able editor in Mark Manuel but I do shoulder a lot of responsibilities in the area of editorial. I also write as well whereas when Behram was there I used to never write at all. Besides, writing I shoot a lot of photographs and the magazine UPPER CRUST which was launched 7 years ago has also evolved and I am the Editor for the magazine. So in terms of editorial, I handle a lot more now then what I used to.

We had Afternoon and within the newspaper we had a huge brand called Eating Out with the famous Busybee writing about restaurants and we had a huge readership for that and that motivated us to launch Upper Crust which was around 6½ years ago. We launched Upper Crust which was a huge success and the next step was to have the Upper Crust show which would synergize with the whole concept of the magazine. Mumbai and India is poised perfectly right now and has been for the past couple of years to break through and make new forays into the world of food and cuisine. I believe it's a 5000 crore industry and it's growing and so we had to be at the right time and the right place and it just followed the pattern and we launched the Upper Crust show so that more people could be made aware of the magazine and in order to promote the magazine, we did the Upper Crust show in Mumbai and it has grown over the past 3 years and become big by itself.

When did you start taking interest in Photography?

 I also started shooting food for the magazine and I believe if you don't know something at times, it helps. I didn't know that it is difficult to shoot food, I just jumped into it and it grew and grew and in the last 7 years I clicked so many pictures running into thousands or even hundred thousand odd pictures.

The photography exhibition recently also was just by chance as people in the office suggested me to have an exhibition of the impressive portfolio of pictures I had taken. So my secretary blocked dates for the exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery and the next question was what should be the theme of the exhibition and so I decided let's do people as I had taken a lot of pictures of versatile people. So it was all kinds of people whose photographs were on display- from Maharajahs to Princes and Princesses and common vendors on the streets, to little children , to international wine guys, to film stars it was like an A to Z of people, you name it and their pictures were there. So it was the most logical thing to do. In all it was five years of work and to put it together it took us almost 3 weeks and after the Mumbai floods last July, we had the exhibition on August 8 and it was a lot of fun and very different and at the end of it I quite enjoyed it.

How do you spend your day managing the three-Afternoon, Upper Crust and your passion for photography?

No two days are alike. In fact one half of a day can be drastically different from the other part of the day. And when you do something with passion and zeal and you don't make it a pain you enjoy it and the day just flies by.

As you edit a magazine of lifestyle and living, what according to you is the idea of ideal food and ideal living.?

Simple. I may be eating at times the most exotic food However, at the end of the day I would like to eat my simple dal and rice with my home made lime pickle which is nothing but lime and salt. Honestly, simplicity in everything gives you the ideal flavour of life whether you eat simply, live simply, interact simply, travel simply No complications of any kind, that's the best way. Simple living and high thinking, that should be the way of life.

With the proliferation of electronic media, many more news channels coming in, how do you see the future scenario of the publication industry.

I was asked this question 20 years ago, 10 years ago and 5 years ago and all along I have maintained that newspapers cannot be replaced by any other media. First it was television which invaded our life, then the video and now the internet, it doesn't make any difference even today. You want to read that printed word and newspapers will never go out of style and out of business. Newspapers and magazines are here to stay and continue to be an integral part of our lives.

As travel is also one of your forte and you cover places in Upper Crust, which is your preferred destination in India and abroad.?

I have come to an age and time in life where I enjoy India more than I enjoy the rest of the world. I love the hills and recently when I went to Badrinath and Kedarnath and thoroughly enjoyed it. I love trekking and I love the hills. I am not a sea person and I don't like beaches as much as exploring the hills. I like the hills, the lakes and streams and I can go anywhere in the Himalayas- any spot in the Himalayas is my favourite spot. I like to go to places where I don't want to see much of monuments and structures. I like to go offbeat. It’s important especially after working your mind out, I like to go to places where I can just go and relax a bit, indulge in a spa activity. I like cruises very much and that's the best form of relaxation. Places with monuments & architecture are a big no for me.

And that's what Behram told me that when I am gone, never name a road after me and I had people approach me for that and I said I don't want it. And he is remembered even today after he has gone only because he was a great journalist. So there are great rewards for being a journalist and I would say go for it. I would advise people to make a career out of that, but be prepared as it is hard work. I will pay in the long run especially if you do not bluff around.

The attributes to be a good journalist are honesty, integrity, hard work - a passion depending on what area of journalism you intend getting into especially in case of hard core journalism. Like Vir Sanghvi is a great journalist and a food writer as well. So also was Behram, he was a great journalist and as Busybee he was a great food writer as well. You have to be persistent and pursue it as a long term career. You can't be a journalist for two years and expect rewards.

How is the face of journalism changing in terms of integrity and ethics?

It is a very personal thing to each newspaper. It depends on the culture of each newspaper. Like any other area, you may have the good people and the bad people and so it happens in newspapers as well. But by and large, there are quite a few new people who come into this world for a quick fix and they think they'll become journalists overnight. It doesn't work like that. Journalism is experience. It's understanding people over the years, who you are going to report, who are you going to talk to, who are you going to interview, etc. It's a long term process.

What are the highs and lows in this field?

You are recognized for being a good newspaper, you are recognized for doing something good to society would count amongst the highs. People walk up to us and tell us how some information in our newspaper has helped them. Those are the highs. The lows are that you compromise in your life. When you joined in you are in your 20s and suddenly you realize that now you are in your 40s and you wonder where your years have gone. You compromise in your life because it is a 24 hour activity. In my case, the low has been that we never had big bucks from the very beginning and we've been very thrifty people, very careful with money. I would prefer running a newspaper my way rather than splurge like some newspapers do when they launch their publication. So I am happy the way I am and there are no real lows as such.

 He enjoyed working, he enjoyed being with people, he enjoyed partying, he enjoyed drinking his whisky, he enjoyed everything what he did and he never thought ill of anybody. Even those who might have done him in, in a small way, he had no spite or ill feeling for anyone. Never a bad thought for anyone and that is why he was so unpolluted in his mind, so detoxified-he was a pure human being and that purity, that essence, I have imbibed and I feel very happy for it. Behram's influence has been too tremendous to talk about.

I love reading and at one time I had 22 penpals and that plummeted as I used to spend a lot of money in mail in my younger days and eventually I had just one out of the 22 odd penpals who was from Germany and she eventually passed away. I encourage people to write letters. I love farming and cultivating and I am a farmer and it gives me great satisfaction.

What is your message to your readers?

Please apply yourself and listen to your inner voice and do your thing.

CONTENTS | HOME | IMFAA | IHCTM | SCHNELL HANS