Author: RA

The one and only Tennis Yearbook in India and possibly the only exclusive tennis magazine in the country. This magazine has been regularly published with amazing commitment and dedication for over 25 years now. Other than the unfortunate  pandemic years, Priya Nanki Singh, its publisher-owner, has brought out the magazine year-after-year with no support from anyone, holding forth a crusade for promotion of tennis in the country. Profusely illustrated, “Advantage Tennis” yearbook/magazine carries well-researched & commissioned articles, interviews, game history and analysis of the previous year, player rankings and tournament schedules for all major tournaments across the world and within India. A center-spread pinup poster is an added attraction. We at ISHTIHAAR are proud to have been associated with the magazine since its inception. Ishtihaar has designed and printed all 23 issues till date with as much dedication and love. 

ISHTIHAAR, design studio and advertising agency, offers its services to you also in case you wish to design and print a book, magazine, annual report, catalogue, calendar or any other illustrated document. Leave us a message here or write to rajinder@ishtihaar.com 

Have you ever seen Mars rise over the northern hemisphere of earth? No? Even I haven’t. This is the sunrise over Lake Ontario from Toronto. Picture by my brother JR.

Reminds me of ‘Rhythm Divine’. Though still, the sky still has a few musical notes fluttering in it left by a singing Loon; the aura around the sun starts an Aalaap from the southern flank of the lake and dips it in the northern waters giving a gentle push to the ripples which culminates in the ultimate divine symphony playing out for us, the lesser mortals.

The last of the calendars has finally been delivered to the client. Though a little late in the month, yet, for some clients the love of a Table or Wall Calendar pushes them to produce and distribute it as part of the yearly branding exercise. Looking at the calendar as a promotion tool is no longer what it used to be a decade or more back. From the 1980s till about the first decade of the 21st Century there was keen interest in calendars and clients would set aside a decent chunk of budget for it. Marketing Managers pitched it to the management and worked hard on choosing an attractive concept and theme. Agencies had to come up with their creative best to bag the project. For PSUs, pharma and infrastructure companies, a calendar was a big-ticket item. In 2023 a printed Calendar is a rarity and only the connoisseurs dare to step in proving true to a long standing conviction. Trust us, no one says no to a calendar as a gift and those that are well designed are also well accepted and find a place of pride on a wall or on a desk. This one is for our renowned client SISCO, a infrastructure speciality steel manufacturer with one of the largest capacity steel plants in India.

‘The Corner’ by my desk where Siddhartha Gautama meets Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar meets Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi meets Jehangir Jani. Artworks/artists respectively are ‘Siddhartha’ by Siddharth, ‘Akbar’ by Jawad Ahmad, ‘Mahatma and the Dandi Yatra’ by India Post, and ‘Penis in Three Dimensions’ by dear Jehangir Jani. Their sentiments are not hurt being so close to each other. The wall tells me it is secular – in colour and creed.

Six-Bed Duplex Cottage with the best viewing gallery on the western slopes of Mukteshwar hills. Plenty of Lounging, Dining and Cooking spaces. Terraced lawn, Deck and kitchen garden on unmeasured lot. Three fireplaces and chimneys. A private road through pristine woods. Perennial stream 100 feet below. Peach, apricot, apple and lemon trees with flowering shrubs and a herbs nursery. Two cows and eight goats with grazing rights. Cheetals, Sambar and an occasional Leopard pass by to entertain. Views to kill for. Beats Vastu frauds. Not for sale. The picture is mine, not the house.