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Bhupati Chakrabarti
SANDESH: AUTUMN ISSUE OF THE BENGALI PERIODICAL FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS by Sandesh Karyalaya, Sharadiya Sankhya, Triteeyo Parjay ----, 2017, 150 pp., 90
November 2017, volume 41, No 11

The well-known Bengali periodical Sandesh, instituted in 1913 by Upendrakishore Ray, was meant for ‘mature children’ and was subsequently edited by his son Sukumar Ray and then by his grandson Satyajit Ray, the eminent film maker. There were two interruptions in the magazine’s publication but since 1961, in what is its third phase, it has been published without a break for almost 57 years. Satyajit Ray’s son Sandip is currently one of the editors of the magazine. The world of children has undergone great transformation from the time the magazine was founded. There have been tremendous social changes and changes in printing technology even in the last 20 years which have necessitated the recasting of the content of children’s magazines to keep up with the times. Sandesh was also faced with another challenge—the need to strike a balance between retaining the magazine’s old world charm and being modern in its content. This balance was necessary as many elderly people,
some in their seventies, still read the magazine out of nostalgia and some even write to the editors with their suggestions and encouragement.

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