Reader’s Digest India | December 2013 Issue | Magazine Reviews

December 2013 issue of Reader’s Digest is the last one for the year 2013 (of course)! And we are quite hopeful to end the year with some really great reading. The issue reached us a little late and then we were busy with reading some books and other stuff to post reviews for the same which delayed us to post reviews for the Dec 2013 issue of RD. But, no delay anymore, here it is…

As the winter is started in India, the people are more health conscious. Hence we did expect some big stuff related to health. This time the cover page (white background) shows a human brain and hints us to have an article about Brain Attach inside the magazine.

Editorial shows the open-mindness of the editor. It also discusses the steadily growing trend of e-book, e-magazines and e-book readers (like Amazon kindle).

The react section is quite interesting. Apart from http://www.crowmanofindia.com/ – a website of a bird lover, and his reactions, the reactions to – how honest are we? – are there. What we like the most is the confession of a fellow, who were given more money by the counter person when he bought popcorn at a movie theater. You can read more in the magazine, in his own words, but we must say that one need guts to confess a mistake. And it is nice to read that the person feels guilty from within and walked a step more towards genuineness and humanity.

Ask Laskas – brings answers to the questions which are related to manners and intended more towards the festivals.

Future shocks – a small article by Nury Vittachi is a good read.

Arthur Smith brings in his views regarding the darker side of life and its positive effects. You may or may not agree with him, but the article is worth a read.

Outrageous – in this small section the author brings in his view about why you cannot find a policeman near you (or at the place expected) when you actually need him. His assessment is based on the reality.

Kindness of Strangers – you can help anybody if you have heart – is the segment of the magazine we love the most. This time the real life heroes include a fellow named Rajubhai from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. There are also genuine fellows from Japan, and Cape Town (Africa) and the incidents belong to them noted. And yes, there is a bicycle owner and his help to a student is also mentioned. All these incidents makes our faith stronger and stronger in the human values.

The laughter section this time contains actually some witty lines (instead of jokes).

Sometimes we got used to several things that we may not give importance to it. Even miss it only when we lost it. For example ear muffs. Do you know who invented it? or How was it invented? You can read a knowledge based article about the same. It reminds us Safari – a magazine focused on knowledge and science.

Stroke is a fatal mishap which can happen to anyone. One need to learn to identify the symptoms of the same. It is the situation where every minute counts. The best chances of survival can be reached if you can get the person to the hospital within an hour. That makes the article related to the same – must read once – for all.

The issue also contains – Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand award – results.

Escape to India – is a real story of the author Mr. Bhatia who currently lives in Noida. He was at the time of partition of India were on visit to Kashmir (he belong to a town in Pakistan – at that time). He recollects his memories as when he had to forget his native and get stationed in India. Only those who faced that harsh reality of being displaced can understand the real pain, and he is the one. The last paragraph of his article is a good read.

Real life drama – this time brings the real incident of a fatal accident and its survivors, you need to read it (and see the photographs) to believe it. The illustration of the accident helps understanding the fatality more properly.

The gold and ivory tablecloth – is the article which was first published in 1954! It republished in this issue under the hood – RD Classics. The author of the article is died in 1989 but his article is popular and even found circulating on the Internet. A good read for those who love such kind of writing.

Getting an advise from a doctor is different in case the doctor is your close friend. Yeah, right. There are several medical advice related to vitamins which may different in personal opinion of the doctor and his assessment as per the medical terms. There are several myths related to vitamins and a pal like advise from the doctor whether you should take a supplement for the same are consolidated in a nice article. It is a good read, especially for those who are obsessed with vitamin supplements.

Lost and found – is a very interesting article. It lists some important stuff which were lost and found back after a period (and some even not found till date, but who knows, it can surface tomorrow or after some decades or even centuries).

The other wonders of the universe – one more fantastic article which will improve your knowledge. Kudos to Mark Thompson for the article.

A kidney surgeon of UK is survived from the Cancer! It was a life-changing experience for him. He then decided to do something for the world, the humanity and make a difference. He now helps Palestinian kids and brings hope for them. Read more about him and his work in an article named – Fearless In Gaza. One of the real heroes, we can say.

The news of – the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy (known as JFK popularly) have some mysterious attributes within that! This sad event keeps coming on the surface after a regular interval and people are interested in knowing the facts about the same. There is an article with facts included in the issue, you may be interested in reading the same.

A small article about how to create strong password is a must read for non-techies also, as we do a lot of stuff online these days (be it via PC, Laptop, Smartphone or other means). The password is the key to your security and you don’t have to take it lightly.

This issue seems to have more articles which are knowledge based than those found in recent issues of Reader’s Digest (India edition). And a way better than some time pass magazines. It is totally worth your money and time. The year ends with a really cool issue (in winter 🙂 ) by RD. Our personal verdict : just go for it.