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ABOUT 'THE HIMALAYAN BEACON'
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In
the month of November 1977, a group of friends enjoying tea at a
resturant were joined by an Australian traveller, who inquired about
Newspapers and magazines published from Darjeeling. Upon being told
about several newspapers and magazines, he remarked, "But aren't they
published from outside Darjeeling? Don't you folks have any newspapers
or magazines published from Darjeeling?" The group of friends pondered
deeply and realized that indeed there were no newspapers or magazine
published from Darjeeling. One of them, then felt that a news-magazine
had to be published from Darjeeling and that the voice of the people of
Darjeeling had to be given a medium of their. This young man was Barun
Roy, then a student of Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Aided
Designing (CAD) studying at Hindustan Institute of Engineering
Technology, Chennai. Roy was in Darjeeling during his holidays. He
quickly gathered his closest friends and told them of his desire to
start a news-magazine. Subash Sthapit and Raju Biswas, two of his
school-mates and closest mates joined him and together they found
Beacon Publications. Within a few days, a number of talented young
people joined them. Among them were Amina Fareedi, Prateeq Ojha, Asif
Iqbal, Nishan Chhetri, Tarun Agarwal and Prashant Rai.
Roy, drafted the first issue of Beacon during last semester of his studies at Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology, Chennai. He also coordinated with other journalists and contributors both in Darjeeling Hills and Chennai. The first Issue of Beacon was released on 14th of January 1998. The magazine was pre-released by Roy by a day to celebrate is mother Mrs. Parbati Roy's birthday which fell on 14th of January 1998.
Within a few months Beacon gained in popularity and scope adding much to the creativity in Darjeeling Hills. The political environement in Darjeeling Hills was not conducive to free and open press, however, Beacon, though a youngling in the field of journalism, led the path in remaining free and reporting candidly and honestly.
The magazine however, faced a number of problems. Due to the poor condition of the economy and lack of support to the magazine especially from various organisations particularly Governmental who refused to advertise in it due to its critical stand against the corruption in the local governance, the magazine underwent severe financial crisis and was forced to close down in 2001.
The need for sizeable infrastructure and financial expenditure involved coupled with poor financial returns made publishing Beacon unviable. Roy however, did not lose hope and began to think that the future of publishing was not in print but online. As a student of Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Aided Designing (CAD) at Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology, in Chennai, Roy had been fascinated by internet as a medium more power than paper or even Television. The idea of news at your fingertips was too great and coupled with that the ability to bring together people from across the globe like they had never been able to before, sharing not just information and ideas about anything but also coming together and standing up for something.
In 2001, thus, Roy began his first online portal 'Darjeeling Online'. Darjeeling Online was a one stop portal for everything that dealt with people for and from Darjeeling Hills. However, it was quickly evident that with limited resources, the concept of one stop portal was too big. Darjeeling Online was hosted on a 'shared server' which then provided only 25 mb of total space. Of course, the space of 25 mb then was thought to be large but if was just mere pittance when compared with what the site envisaged. After designing, developing and uploading the site, the site crashed within two hours as all the bandwidth for the entire month was used up. Roy scaled down the site breaking down to its bare minimum and re-hosted it. The site was the first site to post news from Darjeeling Hills online. It was also the first site to offer various services including directory services as well as running a Bulletin Board Service (BBS).
However, yet, it was evident, that the site was too big for the servers its was hosted upon. Of what Roy envisioned, the site needed unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth at a reasonable price - something that would only be possible five years later. Losing hope and abandoning his work online, Roy, left Darjeeling to work elsewhere. Between 2001 and 2006, he worked at various places including Kolkata, Mumbai, Kenya, South Africa and Russia and ulitmately returning to Darjeeling to his ailing mother. In 2006, Roy also re-opened Darjeeling Online and once again attempted to rekindle his old dream of a portal that would not just involve news but would offer everything to the readers including the ability to discuss and even purchase various goods online. Indeed a number of such sites at a global scale had already begun and were now becoming a raze across the planet - these included Yahoo! In 2006, Roy was also invited to join a seminar and workshop on use of Online Journalism organised by Panos Southasia at Kathmandu. He joined a number of online journalists from across the SAARC Countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, The workshop convinced Roy that he was on the right path and indeed within the few years, internet would redefine Jounalism. On his return from Kathmandu, he immediately closed down Darjeeling Online and rejuvenated Beacon, this time as Beacon Online.
Beacon Online became very popular at the word 'go'. Within a year it crossed 3 million hits and began gathering people from across the Globe. Much like the printed edition with a motto - for the people, by the people, of the people, Beacon Online choose to cater to the Global Gorkhas with the motto - news, views and insights from Gorkhas world over!
Beacon Online created many records and led many campaigns which brought people across the globe under one platform and for the first time, they were able to unitedly raise their voice against something. It was also a place where popular deliberation on almost every issue became the order of the day, where readers not just read but blogged and commented and added to the general corpus of knowledge and information.
In January of 2012, Beacon crossed the 10 million hits mark. However, the site was again bogged down by server issues and ultimately, the site was hosted on a dedicated server with unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth. For the first time, Roy's dream of one stop portal where everything was possible became possible. There were technical issues but there were also possibilities now. Roy, thence, transformed Beacon Online into The Himalayan Beacon - everything had to be possible - everything had to be united.
The Himalayan Beacon today, is a one stop portal dedicated to the Darjeeling Hills, where it does not just make it possible for everything to happen by bringing Gorkhas from across the Globe together but also all people - Gorkhas and Non-Gorkhas alike, together, who love Darjeeling Hills and wants to remain in touch with it. To be a part of it, no matter how far away one is!
The Himalayan Beacon thus is also a process - a process of becoming, a process of realizing the unity of dreams with technology - where everything is possible.
©
®The
Himalayan Beacon™
Roy, drafted the first issue of Beacon during last semester of his studies at Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology, Chennai. He also coordinated with other journalists and contributors both in Darjeeling Hills and Chennai. The first Issue of Beacon was released on 14th of January 1998. The magazine was pre-released by Roy by a day to celebrate is mother Mrs. Parbati Roy's birthday which fell on 14th of January 1998.
Within a few months Beacon gained in popularity and scope adding much to the creativity in Darjeeling Hills. The political environement in Darjeeling Hills was not conducive to free and open press, however, Beacon, though a youngling in the field of journalism, led the path in remaining free and reporting candidly and honestly.
The magazine however, faced a number of problems. Due to the poor condition of the economy and lack of support to the magazine especially from various organisations particularly Governmental who refused to advertise in it due to its critical stand against the corruption in the local governance, the magazine underwent severe financial crisis and was forced to close down in 2001.
The need for sizeable infrastructure and financial expenditure involved coupled with poor financial returns made publishing Beacon unviable. Roy however, did not lose hope and began to think that the future of publishing was not in print but online. As a student of Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Aided Designing (CAD) at Hindustan Institute of Engineering Technology, in Chennai, Roy had been fascinated by internet as a medium more power than paper or even Television. The idea of news at your fingertips was too great and coupled with that the ability to bring together people from across the globe like they had never been able to before, sharing not just information and ideas about anything but also coming together and standing up for something.
In 2001, thus, Roy began his first online portal 'Darjeeling Online'. Darjeeling Online was a one stop portal for everything that dealt with people for and from Darjeeling Hills. However, it was quickly evident that with limited resources, the concept of one stop portal was too big. Darjeeling Online was hosted on a 'shared server' which then provided only 25 mb of total space. Of course, the space of 25 mb then was thought to be large but if was just mere pittance when compared with what the site envisaged. After designing, developing and uploading the site, the site crashed within two hours as all the bandwidth for the entire month was used up. Roy scaled down the site breaking down to its bare minimum and re-hosted it. The site was the first site to post news from Darjeeling Hills online. It was also the first site to offer various services including directory services as well as running a Bulletin Board Service (BBS).
However, yet, it was evident, that the site was too big for the servers its was hosted upon. Of what Roy envisioned, the site needed unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth at a reasonable price - something that would only be possible five years later. Losing hope and abandoning his work online, Roy, left Darjeeling to work elsewhere. Between 2001 and 2006, he worked at various places including Kolkata, Mumbai, Kenya, South Africa and Russia and ulitmately returning to Darjeeling to his ailing mother. In 2006, Roy also re-opened Darjeeling Online and once again attempted to rekindle his old dream of a portal that would not just involve news but would offer everything to the readers including the ability to discuss and even purchase various goods online. Indeed a number of such sites at a global scale had already begun and were now becoming a raze across the planet - these included Yahoo! In 2006, Roy was also invited to join a seminar and workshop on use of Online Journalism organised by Panos Southasia at Kathmandu. He joined a number of online journalists from across the SAARC Countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, The workshop convinced Roy that he was on the right path and indeed within the few years, internet would redefine Jounalism. On his return from Kathmandu, he immediately closed down Darjeeling Online and rejuvenated Beacon, this time as Beacon Online.
Beacon Online became very popular at the word 'go'. Within a year it crossed 3 million hits and began gathering people from across the Globe. Much like the printed edition with a motto - for the people, by the people, of the people, Beacon Online choose to cater to the Global Gorkhas with the motto - news, views and insights from Gorkhas world over!
Beacon Online created many records and led many campaigns which brought people across the globe under one platform and for the first time, they were able to unitedly raise their voice against something. It was also a place where popular deliberation on almost every issue became the order of the day, where readers not just read but blogged and commented and added to the general corpus of knowledge and information.
In January of 2012, Beacon crossed the 10 million hits mark. However, the site was again bogged down by server issues and ultimately, the site was hosted on a dedicated server with unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth. For the first time, Roy's dream of one stop portal where everything was possible became possible. There were technical issues but there were also possibilities now. Roy, thence, transformed Beacon Online into The Himalayan Beacon - everything had to be possible - everything had to be united.
The Himalayan Beacon today, is a one stop portal dedicated to the Darjeeling Hills, where it does not just make it possible for everything to happen by bringing Gorkhas from across the Globe together but also all people - Gorkhas and Non-Gorkhas alike, together, who love Darjeeling Hills and wants to remain in touch with it. To be a part of it, no matter how far away one is!
The Himalayan Beacon thus is also a process - a process of becoming, a process of realizing the unity of dreams with technology - where everything is possible.