Getting to page one

The Times of India in  Mumbai broke a record of sorts on October 15. Readers had to work hard to find the front page of the paper because it had two and a half front pages before you got to the real front page.  The two full page ads before the actual page one, with ads at the back also, displayed The Times of India masthead.  So readers could be forgiven for being doubly puzzled.  But the ad-matter did not end there.  Apart from the usual cluster of ads of all shapes and sizes on almost every page, the paper had 10 full page advertisements in an issue of 26 pages.  Of these, seven were by builders and developers promising everything from "glass walls" to "soothing landscaping" and "a luxurious spread of essentials".