On the Way Up

From HIMAL, Volume 6, Issue 1 (JAN/FEB 1993)

In the headlong rush from producing one Himal to preparing another, this column (meant to communicate with readers) tends to receive short shrift. So hello again, after a lengthy hiatus.

Firstly, we say thank you and bid goodbye to Kesang Tseten, who has stood by Himal steadfastly since Mar/Apr 1989, as Associate Editor and then as Consulting Editor. Welcome to Sanjeev Prakash, with whose help we hope to make Himal even more a Himalayan magazine in terms of editorial depth, geographical breadth, and readership.

Before quite realising it, 23 issues have slipped by. The need for an indexing system has been felt for long. Earlier, it was possible to call the editor on the phone and ask about such-and-such an article. No more. He’s information overloaded. Hence our Himel Index, for which we thank computer experts Tara Mani Dahal and Piush Mani Dahal.

Another bit of good news. The New York Public Library, that hallowed repository, just sent us an order for all back issues and all future issues. So if you’re lost and friendless in America (see article on page 36), you can now travel to Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, New York, and snuggle up with a Himal in that marvelous reading room of the NYPL.

Advance warning on bad news: This magazine has sold in Nepal for five years at a constant NRs 20 per copy and NRs 110 per year’s subscription since 1987. If a benevolent godmother or donor agency does not come along soon enough to rescue us, be forewarned of a drastic price hike. And we are also toying with the idea of going in for newsprint.

Meanwhile, have you noticed that with this issue Himal is more reader-friendly? That’s because we have made the type bigger.