A Man for All Seasons

a m, Sachin Chaudhuri, founder- editor of "Economic and Political Weekly", died. If on Monday any of us had suggested any such possibility, he would first have laughed it out and then rebuked us, the younger generation, severely for being so pessimistic. Death was never allowed to enter into his calculations, not a man's nor a paper's. For eighteen hard years he had toiled to build "The Economic Weekly". He had succeeded. The world knew of it. Then, on a sudden, the paper died. Sachin Chaudhuri was already past sixty. So what? That was his reaction. And, with virtually no resources of his own, he started thinking of a trust that would fill the gap. Donations came from unsuspected quarters and anonymous readers; the Sameeksha Trust was born in April last, and "Economic and Political Weekly" in August. The idea of an independent, truly independent, weekly journal of opinion and information no doubt attracted many; they thought the disappearance of "The Economic Weekly" was an unjust intellectual deprivation. But the main draw, we who are left behind have not the slightest doubt, was the personality of Sachin Chaudhuri. Sachin without a paper! It did not make sense.