Summary: (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/MrinalPande-150x150.jpg)Mrinal Pande (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrinal_Pande) is a journalist, author and TV personality. She was the first woman in Indian media to become the chief editor of a national newspaper. This was for the Hindi edition of The Hindustan Times. Mrinal was a teenager when cut her teeth as a copy editor. She helped her mother, the well-known Hindi author Shivani (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2006/03/18/ira-pande-remembers-shivani/) with her stories. She was only 13 years when her mother got her to help by saying "put the comma, fullstop" and mail the story to the editor of the magazine. "She trusted my capacity in language to a frightening degree," recollect Mirnal. And it was her mother's trust that gave her the confidence to edit. And then there was Mrinal's own "peculiar launch" as a writer when she was 21 years old when she penned her first story without any hesitation and mailed it to the same editor as her mother's.To her surprise the editor sent her a handwritten note saying they were publishing her story and wanted to have her send more stories. Interestingly, the editor did not know of Mrinal's connection to Shivani and discovered it only after a couple of years. She taught for a couple of years in a college before starting her journey in the print media that led her to become the chief editor of the Hindi edition of The Hindustan Times (http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx).Her biggest challenge in her new position was to prove that she was a good editor. She also had to deal with a belligerent union that was opposed to the introduction of technology. She took the initiative to introduce the color edition of the newspaper and they were the first Hindi newspaper to go "all-color" The paper went from being number 8 to the number one Hindi newspaper in India. Mrinal lives in Delhii with her family. Related Links: Micky Pant on his mother Shivani (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2006/03/23/in-conversation-with-micky-pant/) - audio Ira Pande on her mother Shivani (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2006/03/18/ira-pande-remembers-shivani/) - audio Photo credit - Wikipedia
