View from Jammu

I have read the recently published writeups on Sachin Chaudhuri and Economic Weekly (EW) with great interest and with a sense of nostalgia. I discover that I belonged to the circle of early contributors of the EW and of Sachin’s company though with no claim to match the eminence of the other members of the august circle.

My first article in the EW was published in November 1952 on the economy of Kashmir. Some time later, another article of mine was published: a critique of the addresses of the leading economists of the time – V K R V Rao, C N Vakil and K N Raj – at the annual conference of the Indian Economics Association at Agra. Entitled “Third Alternative”, I had criticised the polarised views at the conference and instead suggested a third alternative. I was told that the economists whom I had criticised had not taken kindly to my views. Thereafter, I remained a regular contributor to the EW on various topics.