''Target'' was a popular

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n children's magazine that was published monthly in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from 1979 to 1995. It featured a mix of reader contributions, stories from regular writers,

do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

articles and several popular comic strips.

History

In September 1979, Rosalind Wilson (1942 – July 28, 1992), a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

educationist settled in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

started ''Target'' and became its founder-editor. The magazine was owned by

Living Media Living Media India Limited, d.b.a. India Today Group, is an Indian media conglomerate based in New Delhi, India. It has interests in magazines, newspapers, books, radio, television, printing and the Internet. History India Today Group was ...

, who also own the

India Today Group 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawa ...

. After Rosalind Wilson's death in 1992, the magazine's publication continued under Amena Jayal with its successful formula of stories and illustrations. In 1995, in a move to target a larger age group, India Today Group wound up ''Target'' to start '' Teens Today'' magazine. This move was a failure, because, with its emphasis on fashion and urban life, ''Teens Today'' did not have the wide appeal of the unpretentious ''Target''. ''Teens Today'' was edited by Target old-timer Vatsala Kaul.

Content

''Targets outstanding production values as well as the quality of cartoonists and writers on its editorial board made it stand out from other contemporary Indian children's magazines like

Tinkle ''Tinkle'' is an Indian fortnightly magazine for children in English, published from Mumbai. Originally owned by the India Book House, the Tinkle brand was acquired by ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) Media in 2007. The magazine contains comics, sto ...

Champak Champak is a popular fortnightly magazine for children published by the Delhi Press Group since 1969 in India. ''Champak'' competes with Amar Chitra Katha's ''Tinkle'' and Geodesic's ''Chandamama'' brands of magazines. ''Champak'' is published ...

and

Chandamama ''Chandamama'' was a classic Indian monthly magazine for children, famous for its illustrations. It also published long-running mythological/magical stories that ran for years. Originally, "Chandamama" was started in Telugu by Chakrapani and ...

. A popular feature in ''Target'' was pages with information on international

pen friend Pen pals (or penpals, pen-pals, penfriends or pen friends) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of le ...

s. In the age before email revolutionised communication, having pen friends was a popular hobby, both for the purpose of knowing about the world at large, and collecting stamps from foreign countries. Some of the popular comic strips published in ''Target'' were: * ''

Gardhab Das Gardhab Das created by cartoonist brothers Neelabh Banerjee and Jayanto Banerjee was a comic section run in the Indian youth magazine Target (magazine), Target. The main character Gardhab Das had a donkey face and was always depicted wearing a kur ...

'' by Jayanto and Neelabh * '' Detective Moochhwala'' and ''Funny World'' by

Ajit Ninan Ajit Ninan (born 1955 in Hyderabad, India) is an Indian political cartoonist, best known for drawing the ''Centrestage'' series of cartoons in India Today magazine and ''Ninan's World'' in the Times of India. Ninan lives in New Delhi, where he ...

* ''Granny's Gupshup'' by Praloy Chakrovorty and

Joygopal Podder Joygopal Podder (born 19 May 1960, London, Great Britain) is an Indian writer. In 2016 he was listed in the Limca Book of Records for having had 15 crime fiction novels published in 57 months. Before this he went on to feature in Limca Book of Rec ...

and others * ''It Happened in History'' written by Renuka Narayanan and illustrated by

Suddhasattwa Basu Suddhasattwa Basu (born 1956) is an Indian author, painter, illustrator, and animator. Born in West Bengal, he spent his childhood in a small town named Chandannagar, West Bengal. Basu studied fine arts at the Government College of Art & Craft ...

. * ''Science News'' illustrated by Priya Nagarajan and others

Contributors

Writers

Dilip Salvi Dilip may refer to: People * Dilīpa, king in Hindu mythology * Dilip Chhabria, Indian automobile designer * Dilip Chitre (1938–2009), Indian writer and critic * Dilip D'Souza (born 1960), Indian writer and journalist * Dilip Dholakia (1921–20 ...

* Sigrun Srivastava *

Ruskin Bond Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934) is an Anglo-Indian author . His first novel, ''The Room on the Roof'', was published in 1956, and it received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. Bond has authored more than 500 short stories, essays, and n ...

Geeta Dharmarajan Geeta Dharmarajan (born 19 September 1948) is an Indian writer, educator and social activist. She is known as the founder of Katha, a "profit for all" social organization and as the Editor in Chief of Katha Press, one of th10 Top Children's ...

Jacquelyn Singh Jacqueline is a female given name. Origins Jacqueline comes from French, as the feminine form of Jacques (English James). Jacques originated from 'Jacob', which is derived from the Hebrew meaning 'may God protect' or 'supplanter'. ''Supplan ...

Mala Marwaha Mala may refer to: Comics * Mala (Amazon), an Amazon from Wonder Woman's side of the DC Universe * Mala (Kryptonian), a villain from Superman's corner of the DC Universe Films and television * ''Mala'' (1941 film), a Bollywood drama film * , a ...

(author and illustrator) *

Margaret Bhatty Margaret Ruth Bhatty (, 5 October 1930 – 20 July 2012) was an Indian schoolteacher, freelance journalist and writer of children's books and short stories for adults. Biography Early life Margaret Ruth Bhatty was born on 5 October 1930 to ...

* Meera Govil * Meera Uberoi * Paro Anand * Ramaa Isvaran * Renuka Narayanan *

Roopa Pai Roopa Pai is an Indian computer engineer, journalist and children's author living in Bangalore, India. She has over 20 published books which include the India's first fantasy-adventure series for children '' Taranauts'' and the national best sel ...

* Rupa Gupta * Subhadra Sengupta * Swapna Dutta * Vijaya Ghosh (associate editor) * Viswajita Das * Vatsala Kaul (associate editor)

Illustrators

(made the ''Funny World'' and ''All in Fun'' cartoon pages) *

Jayanto Banerjee Jayanto Banerjee (born 1958), who signs his work Jayanto, is an Indian cartoonist and illustrator. He created the character of the singing donkey Gardhab Das with his cartoonist brother Neelabh Banerjee for the Indian children's magazine ''Target (m ...

Neelabh Banerjee Neelabh Banerjee is an Indian cartoonist, illustrator and comics artist. He created the character of the singing donkey Gardhab Das along with his brother cartoonist Jayanto Banerjee for the Indian children's magazine Target. He is currently th ...

(creator of India's first animated cartoon series, Gayab Aya) * Praloy Chakrovorty * Sujata Singh *

Manjula Padmanabhan Manjula Padmanabhan (born 23 June 1953) is an Indian playwright, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author. Her works explore science, technology, gender, and international inequalities. Life Padmanabhan was born in Delhi in ...

(author and illustrator) * Priya Nagarajan * Atanu Roy (illustrated the "HA! HA!" jokes page)

References

{{Reflist, 2 1979 establishments in India 1995 disestablishments in India Defunct magazines published in India English-language magazines published in India Indian comics Children's magazines published in India Monthly magazines published in India India Today Group Magazines about comics Magazines established in 1979 Magazines disestablished in 1995 Magazines published in Delhi