"Children preferring TV to books is not a new phenomenon. It comes and goes. First, when television made its appearance in India, contrary to the general belief, our circulation increased. That was because Doordarshan was airing serials based on Ramayan and Mahabharat. Then, when the satellite channels came, our circulation dropped. But today, you take the case of the Harry Potter series. Children are hooked to books. Each child has his likes and dislikes, and there are responsible parents who allow only specific hours for television viewing. So, television has never been a threat to books."

But he admits that the Internet is a threat. "I do not know how much Internet will affect the print medium. That is why we are trying to modernise and expand our activities. Chandamama cannot remain static. We have completed 60 years and it is time to look at the new world, and new possibilities."

The good news is that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam is digitising old copies of Chandamama, recognising the magazine as a part of India's heritage. Reddi also has plans to start an interactive Chandamama on Internet and also move on to multimedia.

Photograph: Tales with moral values. Cover of the August 1953 issue of Chandamama