Forward Thinking Editorials, Essays, Etc (2009-16)

Forward Press, a monthly print magazine, was an unusual experiment in journalism, at least in the Indian context. As the first bilingual newsmagazine in the country, it sought to introduce English to the predominantly Hindi-speaking north India. But more importantly, it was a much-needed intervention in Indian journalism, a field that was predominantly upper-caste. It began reporting on developments and analysing society and culture from a ‘Bahujan’ perspective. ‘Bahujan’ meant the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and converted minorities, forming a chunk of the population and yet unrepresented in the State. Ivan Kostka founded and edited the magazine. ‘Forward Thinking’ is a collection of his editorials and other writings that appeared in the magazine over its seven-year life from 2009 to 2016