Ravi Dayal, the magazine's publisher, had worked with Oxford University Press between 1971 and 1987, initially as an editor and later as the CEO of OUP's Delhi office.

The magazine sought to challenge the traditional literary model by refusing to publish to a set schedule.

Instead, it prioritized quality, with issues appearing only when the editors felt that they had an adequate quantity of intelligent, well-written and inspirational material to justify publication.

[1] Ravi Dayal died on 4 June 2006 at the age of 69, and the magazine can be considered defunct from this date onwards.

[2][3][4][5] A book entitled "Written For Ever: The Best of Civil Lines", edited by Rukun Advani and dedicated to Ravi Dayal as well as Dharma Kumar, was published by Penguin Viking, New Delhi, in late 2009.