/ Publisher's Message, Fall 2012

by Raj Girn

Publisher’s Message, Fall 2012

Apr 22, 2013

I read a quote that was posted on a friend’s Facebook profile page recently (as we all do from time to time), by Dick Sutphen: “Love me without fear, Trust me without questioning, Need me without demanding, Want me without restrictions, Accept me without change, Desire me without inhibitions.” With the real-time information overload that we’re all exposed to every second of every day, I know that, personally, I’m hard-pressed at being able to see the fog through the trees at the best of times when sifting through the many social media communities we all subscribe to adulterously. But this particular post, quantum leaped me back to a bygone time I remember so vividly and fondly; a time that shed much light on what was to be a momentous journey in my life and that of the global South Asian community. A journey that has, although been wrought with as many challenges as successes, in the bigger picture view, dissipated the fog so that the trees became clearly visible, as did the bearing of the fruit they bore.

It was the summer of 2002 when I took that fateful drive over to the local incorporation office and officially formed Anokhi Media Corp., the founding company of the ANOKHI MEDIA brand which bore its first fruit, ANOKHI Magazine in the late fall of that same year. From it, followed a more varied basket full of fruits – events, online magazine and video content, daily blogs, social media network, weekly newsletter, and, launching this fall, a BRAND NEW ADDITION to our fruit basket: www.anokhimedia.com – an all access information and interactive global community housing everything we’ve ever created and will ever create online moving forward. Now, exactly 10 years later, this fall issue marks the close out of 10 successful years of publishing North America’s longest-running South Asian fashion, lifestyle and entertainment quarterly glossy magazine, and with it, a widely unexpected milestone has been reached!

Why unexpected? Because my team and I have been up against what seemed, for many years, to be an infallible equation: media + magazine + niche = negative probability of endurance past the first year (statistically speaking, that is). But not impossible, clearly, as I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this message to share with you all today, and I am. My story and that of ANOKHI MEDIA will be shared with you all in great, never-before-shared detail in the next issue, the 10th Anniversary Collector’s issue of ANOKHI Magazine (on newsstands and in inboxes in January 2013). But as a prelude to this story, I want to share one pivotal point with you all now – the connection between this decade reaching milestone and the quote by Sutphen.

When I founded this company and the associated brand all those years ago, I stepped into the media world with what was perceived as the largest rose-tinted glasses since Hugh Hefner started Playboy and Helen Gurley Brown started Cosmopolitan. That is, an unflinching belief that there was an untapped market that yearned for this medium through which to learn, share and grow, despite (or maybe in spite) of there being nothing quite like it in existence before. Such belief takes giving conventional wisdom a run for its money, as it requires a mammoth leap of faith. The kind of faith that can prove that the rose-tinted glasses were in fact being worn by those who couldn’t see the trees for the fog, and not by you! The very faith that Sutphen refers to in his quote, and the very faith that has built the HOUSE OF ANOKHI MEDIA!

As a tribute to reaching this place in time, here at ANOKHI MEDIA, we chose to dedicate our cover and related celebrity interview to a unique (ANOKHI) story with a unique angle about a super celebrity that exemplifies the power of women. Just to add another twist, she’s a woman you wouldn’t typically expect to grace the cover of a South Asian magazine, albeit, crossover in nature. Kim Kardashian marks the end of an era at ANOKHI Magazine, and the start of another that unequivocally affirms that it’s not just the mainstreaming of the South Asian community that we support, but the ethnic-rising of the mainstream that recognizes its importance. Read her story on page 36 in her words, rarely told by media until now, right here in this issue of ANOKHI Magazine.

And stay connected with us at:
www.anokhimedia.com/10thanniversaryevent for announcements of our much anticipated 10th Anniversary Event which will prove to be our BIGGEST and BEST to date, taking place at the award-winning Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, on Saturday February 2nd, 2013!

Until next time, always remember to Be UNIQUE. Be ANOKHI.

Raj Girn
Founder/Publisher
Photography: Tony Di Lorenzo, Creative Director: Hina P. Ansari, Stylist: Femida Sidi

Hair: Fiorio Hair Salon, Make Up: Vasanti Cosmetics

PUBLISHED IN THE FASHION & STYLE ISSUE, OCTOBER 2012

Raj Girn

Author

Raj Girn is an award-winning media personality, confidence coach, consultant and mentor. Bio: https://www.theopenchestconfidenceacademy.com/about/our-founder/ Testimonials: https://www.theopenchestconfidenceacademy.com/about/testimonials/