The Great Ganesha

SAJA (the South Asian Journalist’s Association) has an article on their forum today, highlighting an excellent montage of magazine covers featuring anything and everything South Asian leading all the way back to 1921.

My favorites are from the real early years, like this New Yorker cover from 1931 (when it cost fifteen cents!).

These covers really make you realize what a closed world it once was, and also what eventually led to the stereotypes that we still face today. I’m reminded of the time my freshman-year dorm neighbors asked me if I could charm snakes (”It’d be tits, if you could, man!”).

And then there’s this one from Time magazine in 1930.

I’m not quite sure why Gandhi looks the way he does. Perhaps it’s because of the difficulty of transporting cameras and related paraphernalia, so a journalist “described” what Gandhi looked like to an artist. Just guessing here…

And here are some more around the mid-to-late 1940’s showcasing Nehru, Gandhi, Jinnah and Patel (for obvious reasons).

And finally, this one that came soon after India’s independence.

Take a look at the entire slide-show, while you’re at it.

[slideshow 8190334]