Opinion Thank you!

and more difficult both in India and around the world,this newspaper has adhered to the values of both fairness and frankness. In my own small and humble way,I contributed to the plurality of views that are daily printed on its pages. Now other,and better,columnists will get to wear The Indian Express badge of honour.

The freedom this newspaper gives its columnists to air their views is a part of what makes it great. And I must record here that never,and not even indirectly,did its editor-in-chief or his editorial team influence what went into my column. For this,I remain grateful to Shekhar Gupta,Raj Kamal Jha and their

colleagues,with whom I cherish a warm personal

relationship.

No less am I grateful to my readers,who are an integral and,indeed,the most important stakeholders in the communication that a columnist engages in. The loop of communication gets completed only when the readers deem that the columnist has written something worth reading. The worth of the written or the spoken word lies in its truthfulness,authenticity,honesty and integrity. Bereft of these,words are mere bubbles on water,a waste of newsprint and also of everyone’s time,which is the most precious personal and social resource. Worse,vacuous words can become weeds,growing all over the mass media landscape,and sapping its vitality to produce inspiration,illumination and mass energy that are so essential for solving the gigantic problems facing India and the world.

On my part,I always tried to use this valued space to write what I believed in,and on issues of concern and interest to society. Although I have long ceased to be a Marxist,there is one maxim of Karl Marx which continues to hold a sway over my mind,and which consciously or subconsciously dictated,each

time I sat down to write my column,that I should take this communication with my readers seriously. Ideas,Marx says,become “a material force as soon as they have gripped the masses”. And they grip the masses if they are radical (which,to me today,means if they are truthful in the Gandhian sense of Truth). “To be radical,” Marx adds,“is to grasp the root of the matter. But for man the root is man himself.” Man-making,in the words of Swami Vivekananda,is the mission of all education—and journalism is nothing if it does not regard itself as an educator of society.

I sincerely attempted through this column to accomplish two things. Firstly,I tried in my own very modest way to participate in the ongoing battle of ideas in Indian society,believing both that good ideas are what India desperately needs and good ideas are what ultimately will triumph. Secondly,with the hope that spurs every goal-oriented social-political activist who has access to some media space,I hoped that my words could influence some positive change somewhere in our society,even though this hope is increasingly giving way to the realisation that Gandhiji was right in exhorting that one can influence change in the world only after creating the desired change in oneself.

I am grateful also because this column helped me considerably in my political activism. However,there was always a certain dichotomy between my two identities: one as an Indian Express columnist and the other as a BJP activist. This dichotomy was due to a prolonged and agonising introspection,all through the past eight years,over where I agreed and disagreed with the BJP’s ideology and politics. Commenting on my column,Atal Bihari Vajpayee—he and L K Advani are two leaders who command my highest respect—once said to me,“You always try to finely balance your opposing beliefs,and I must say you do a good job.” My ideological soul-searching has effected a new turning point in my political life. I resigned from the BJP in early January.

It’s time now to say “Dhanyavaad” to all my esteemed readers. My association with you and with the people of India will continue more vigorously

in the realms of ideas and action—to pursue goals loftier than today’s divisive and debilitating power politics.

(sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com)