A thing of beauty
Sir,
The other day I had a
chance, after a long spell of time, to visit ''Excelsior
House'' where I wished to see a journalist friend. I was
in for an exhilarating surprise. After entering the
premises, I was slightly disoriented about the place
because the gate of the main office wherefrom I used to
join the entrance had disappeared. On enquiry I was told
that it was on the backside. I stepped back a few yards
and enquired of the security guard where the main
entrance was. He was good enough to raise his finger and
point towards the building at my back and to my left. I
turned back and lo! and behold! a cascade of beauty
descended on me. Dazed I stood for a while. As I went up
the flight of outer steps, in a 'slow motion' fashion, I
marvelled at the highly beautiful shape and design of the
House. For me the building was not just a combination of
bricks, iron and mortar. It appeared to be a grace in
marble. I entered the door and my dreamy eyes fell on a
smart looking elderly gentleman who by his professional
posture, gave an impression that he was the receptionist,
well groomed for the job in hand. I would not go up
further from the reception hall because, as reported by
the graceful receptionist, my friend had not reported for
duty as it was his off day. I was thus deprived of the
splendour of the office that would have greeted me. But I
very well imagined the silk and satin touch of the main
office hall lined with chambers looking resplendent in
the glow of electric lights.
I am somehow associated
with ''Daily Excelsior rather indirectly, as I have been
in my humble way contributing, occassionally, articles
for nearly a decade to this esteemed news paper. I have
watched it grow from strength to strength, achieving mile
stone after milestone in its purposeful journey. Now it
has touched great heights of journalistic excellence. The
outer and inner architectural grandeur of ''Excelsior
House'' is a reflection of the acme of perfection the
paper has reached in respect of the quality of its
printed material with a variety of topics. It is a
measure of its success that its readership is increasing
in a geometric progression in the country. With the
installation of the web site, the paper is being made
available to the readers in all the foreign countries and
the feed back is encouraging. The credit goes to the
Editor-in-Chief, his colleagues and all other workers who
have been doing the jobs, assigned to them, with
sincerity and dedication. As I walked out of the premises
and looked back at the facade of ''Excelsior House'' from
the main road, I was put in mind of Keats, the poet of
beauty, who exclaims thus ''a thing of beauty is a joy
for ever.''
Yours etc...
Prof. M L Raina
Janipur, Jammu.
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