Journey My swan song

Journey My swan song

October 2024

JOURNEY 

My Swan Song 

In 2015, when former editor,  Suma Varughese, asked me  what I would like to name my  column, I said, “Journey.” Little  did I know that a day would come  when I would recall my journey  with Life Positive in this very space  nine years later. 

As its editor-in-chief, this is the  last issue under my editorship. I had stumbled upon Life Positive  in 2009. A time when the ship  of my career needed an anchor.  Providence was kind enough to  not only give me the opportunity  to work for it, but also make me its  editor.  

When I took over as the editor  in 2017, I was full of dreams,  ambitions, and a determination  to surpass myself in upholding all  the values Life Positive stood for. 

Team Life Positive pulled out all  the stops to ensure that the flag  of LP kept fluttering high, and  the quality of the content stayed  true to the changing ethos as  well as conventional spirituality.  We huddled, brainstormed, read,  and researched extensively to  bring diversity as well as high quality content to Life Positive. We  wanted to heal, help, and evolve  humanity. It was like a sacred  mission bestowed upon me by  the Divine, and I was obligated  to deliver. 

Over these seven years, there  were many bumps in the road,  especially after COVID hit  us in 2020. People cancelled  subscriptions, and the  countrywide sales took a major  hit. Salaries became hard to  come by, and the staff left for  better prospects elsewhere.  During these challenging times,  it was sheer faith in the higher  purpose of Life Positive that kept  me going. I saw the low phase  as an opportunity to reinvent  and reimagine the magazine.  Events, website, digital media  presence, YouTube shows,  business collaborations—Team  Life Positive did it all to keep  the magazine alive, relevant,  and relatable. I contracted long  COVID twice during this phase  but did not allow it to come in the  way of bringing out Life Positive diligently every month. Yet,  undeniably, the high stress levels  were taking their toll on me.  Moreover, the staff didn’t want to  report to the office every day after  the Work From Home (WFH)  culture became the norm, thus  compounding my difficulties at  the work front. As the Gita says,  “Man has right only to his duties,  not to the results thereof.” 

Our tireless endeavours did not  yield the results that we hoped  for and it became increasingly  difficult to keep the magazine  afloat against insurmountable  odds. The only way to end the  unceasing challenges was to close  Life Positive. 

Over the years, colleagues came  and went but there are a few who  left an indelible imprint on my  mind. Mehernosh Unwalla, the  copy editor of Life Positive, stood  by me like a rock through the  highs and lows of my stint. Given  his efficiency, knowledge, and  punctuality, it’s hard to imagine  what my life as an editor would  have been without him. Yoshita  Monga, the designer, pleased my  heart with her obedience, the  ability to honour her word, and  the desire to constantly learn  and upgrade her art. Himanshu  Kumar, the video editor, came  as an inexperienced, amateur,  young boy, who blossomed both  as a video editor and as a person  under my wings, going on to  become a published writer, much  to my amazement. And I can  never forget Punya Srivastava, the  former associate editor, who was  the most dedicated, hardworking,  and reliable colleague an editor  could ask for. If I could clone her,  I would take her everywhere I go. 

Thank you, Life Positive, for giving  me the opportunity to express  myself and serve people.

Editor-in-Chief of Life Positive,  Shivi Verma is a devotee who  found all her answers in loving  God passionately.