He is 39 years old. He looks frail, anaemic, infirm. He cycles 50 kilometres a day. He has already edited and published children’s magazines in 50 Indian languages and dialects over the last 18 years. He has earned the label patrika premi (magazine lover).
His mission in life is to publish children’s magazines in 300 languages, and he has even put his ancestral property on the block to finance his dream.
Bijay Kumar Mahapatra of Pakanpur in India’s eastern state of Orissa is an unlikely magazine hero.
“Magazines for children, containing valuable writeups, can be a very effective tool in grooming them…. Many people don’t understand the importance of children’s literature. I am only a small fry,whose whole idea is to promote national integration through different languages.”
Read the full interview: Bringing out children’s magazines is his passion
IJR 