This is the first in a series of articles that will be published over the next 12 months to mark the 50th anniversary of the Economic & Political Weekly. A prolific writer in English and Bengali, 88-year-old Ashok Mitra is former finance minister of West Bengal, and a former trustee of the Sameeksha Trust, which brings out the EPW. His reminiscences about Sachin Chaudhuri, founder of the Economic Weekly which preceded the EPW, include famous personalities from different walks of life--politicians, academics, journalists, novelists and film personalities.

The memory tends to be a bit blurred. It was some time in the mid-1960s, Manik, the niece of a very close and respected friend, introduced me to a research scholar at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), Govind Deshpande. Manik, whose formal name was Kalindi, and Govind soon got married.

The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects - Selected Writings of D R Gadgil edited by Sulabha Brahme (New Delhi: Oxford University Press), 2011; pp xlx + 433, Rs 1,150.

It is from Amit Sen Gupta’s note, “B K Keayla: A Personal Reminiscence” (EPW,18 December 2010) that I received the sad tidings of B K Keayla’s passing. I endorse every word of Sen Gupta’s tribute.

This article was published in EPW on 9 January 1999, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Economic Weekly. Given the content, that article, titled "Fifty Years Ago", is reprinted here almost entirely in full.