On the way up

Like mountain people elsewhere in the world, Himalayans have limited access to information. Radio stations and newspapers from La Paz to Calcutta beam titillating news-of-the-moment up to the hills, but there is clearly a need to supplement the voices from the plains.

This is where HIMAL steps in -for the Himalaya. We carry news and ideas which you have perhaps wondered why no one covered. We are a thinking person's magazine and we intend to make a difference.

HIMAL is evolving as the needs of the region and our readers become more keenly felt through feedback. Issue after issue, we walk a fine line between readability and bookishness. How do you get the point across without sounding egg-headed? HIMAL is not an academic journal, it is not a newsletter that goes out to the already-committed, and it cannot be a Himalayan version of Geo. You, the readers, are our guide.

A prominent Kathmandu surgeon told us he liked our premier issue, but would not subscribe. His reason? HIMAL would be short-lived like all the other magazines that had come and gone, he said, and he did not want to lose a full year's subscription. Fair enough, as long as the good doctor will subscribe when we are a year old.

Should a development journal have a sense of humour? Should a yeti be allowed to write a column? Are not specialised crossword puzzles passe? In future issues, we may expand our "Viewpoint" section, or we may emphasise features written by journalists and not "experts".

We may decide to have a theme for each issue.

Have a hand in HIMAL's evolution. Stay with us, and write in.