In the ever accelerating universe of technology journalism, where every new device is launched with thunderous marketing and dissected within minutes by a million online voices, few figures command the quiet authority of Rajiv Makhni. For over two decades, the ace tech journalist has been one of the most recognisable interpreters of innovation in India, transforming what was once an intimidating, jargon heavy subject into a language millions could understand.
When Makhni entered the profession, technology journalism in India was still a niche domain confined to specialised magazines read largely by enthusiasts and engineers. The tone was often instructive, even intimidating. Television amplified that shift dramatically. With Gadget Guru, he helped pioneer one of the world’s earliest TV shows dedicated entirely to consumer technology, a concept that initially puzzled even seasoned broadcasters. cementing his reputation as India’s most trusted tech voice. When Outlook Luxe sat down for a tête à tête with Rajiv Makhni, the conversation moved effortlessly from childhood curiosity to the evolving ethics of modern tech journalism—revealing a storyteller who remains as fascinated by innovation as the curious child who once dismantled a toy car just to understand the magic inside.
Looking back at your early years, what sparked your fascination with technology? Was it curiosity, storytelling or the thrill of innovation itself?
No, it is actually completely curiosity. I’ll tell you a very small, interesting story. This is a story my mother tells me.
Is that I was about 3 or 4 years old, my father had gone to Singapore at that time and he brought back this very high fangled remote controlled car for my brother who is 4 years elder to me, so he is 8. At that time, we didn’t have these kind of fancy toys, right? And me and my brother played around with it for a few minutes and then next day in the morning he went to school. I was still not going to school. And when he came back, instead of playing with that car, I had opened it. So, curiosity is my driving force.
When you began your career, technology journalism was still a niche in India. What challenges did you face convincing audiences and perhaps even editors that tech deserves serious storytelling?
No, I think a very interesting question because you are right, when I started off at that time, the only kind of tech journalism was in niche magazines like PC World and, Electronics 4 You.
And it was written by people that were techie. So, they wanted to tell people about technology by standing on top of a pedestal and talking down to people. Look, I know so much. You don’t know anything. Let me teach you. But real technology journalism started from the time we came up with a show like Gadget Guru. I started writing for magazines and for newspapers. My entire idea was to write from the perspective of a user.
Like, I go and buy a product, how will I use it? How disappointed am I? What am I excited about? What is it to do using technology to the next level, right? So, we started with that and it was very difficult to explain to anybody at that time. Most people said, oh, you are just dumbing technology down. I said, no, I am not.
I am only writing from a user’s perspective which makes it very interesting for people. It was very difficult to convince people. The second one was, I remember when we started up with the Gadget Guru show, Pranoy Roy of NDTV asked me, do you think, Rajiv, you will have enough to fill a 30-minute show every week? Because at that time, you know, 2005, a phone used to launch once in 6 months.
You know, a laptop used to launch once in a year. Do you have enough? I said, don’t worry. And, look at our situation. Today, to fill one show, we have 80-90 products that have been launched in a week.So, I think these were the two big challenges at that time.
How did television reshape the way Indians engage with gadgets and innovation when you first appeared on screen as a tech voice?
I didn’t even know about it. We were just going with our passion and we created a television show. And only later was I told that this is the world’s first television show on gadgets. BBC, CNN, they also saw it. They came about a year or two later. So, it was very interesting to see that a gadget show came out from India first on television. The second thing that happened with that was audiences were very taken aback that there is an actual show that talks about technology and about things like buy this, don’t buy this. This is just hype. This is great for you. Who is it right for? It’s right for you if you want to do this. But it’s not right for you if you expect this. So, it was a very refreshing change. Gadget Guru was a hit from week one. We never looked back.
And for 16 years in TRP, for lifestyle shows, we were number one. We never lost that pedestal for 16-17 years. So, I think audience acceptance was very quick and it was something that really, really changed the way we look at technology today.
Was there a defining moment or a breakthrough story that made you realise you weren’t just covering technology but helping shape consumer perception?
Yeah, there was. We did a story on the fact that printers are great devices, very cheap. But the cost of the ink of a printer, I mean how much did they put in? 50 ml. At that time it used to cost 3-4 thousand rupees for something like a cartridge. 50ml for just black ink. We did a story saying printer ink is like black gold. 50 ml costs 3,000 rupees. That means a kg of it is worth 4-5 lakh rupees. So, people were very taken aback with that and we had a huge backlash from most of the printer companies saying, oh, you know, you are trying to tell people that this category is wrong.
And we said, no, we are not. And that’s when the realisation came that this is important for us not just to review products but also talk about categories. We believe that a lot of companies started looking at printer cost because we also did; we went to a place called Nehru Place and got the ink cartridge filled for some 200 rupees.
Which used to be these guys in Nehru Place that used to fill it. We said, quality is fine, nothing is wrong with it, right? So, if this guy can do it for 50 rupees, why am I paying printer companies and brands 3,000 rupees? So, I think it just was a bit of a wake up call for everybody.
