Netters, I join other netters, and thousands of readers of The Sentinel, in wishing Mr. D.N. Bezbaruah goodbye. As some of you may know, he retiring from the Sentinel.
I have always enjoyed reading the online version of the Sentinel, and will terribly miss Mr. Bezbaruah's editorial and stewardship of the paper, and his yeoman service to Assam he has rendered by the power of his pen. I hope he will still contibute by writing frequently, and allow us to enjoy his views on a variet of subjects, for many more years. -Ram Sarangapani First Person Singular F or nearly 22 years, ever since The Sentinel was launched on April 13, 1983, I have done my best to remain the faceless editor hiding behind the impersonal "we" of the editorial column. However, when the time comes to say goodbye to thousands of my esteemed readers, and to my colleagues and correspondents at the end of a fairly long innings, it is the individual speaking and not some impersonal entity. It is then time for the first person singular. My association with The Sentinel has been a long and eventful one. It has also been a very pleasant association that I shall always cherish. I joined the Omega Printers & Publishers (Private) Limited, publishers of The Sentinel, in December 1982 so as to get the ground work done for an English daily that was to be launched shortly. My problem was that I had no experience of editing a newspaper after a quarter century devoted to education. True, I had managed an Assamese daily once owned by the family â Natun Asamiya â for about a year in two stints. But that did not equip me to be editor of an English daily that was to be a trail blazer in the North-east in terms of technology and format. And when you are asked to blaze trails, you have no one around to seek guidance from. It is, therefore, most gratifying to find that in these two decades The Sentinel has done well, and is today a name to reckon with all over India. The newspaper is also an internship centre for some of the most prestigeous institutes of journalism in the country, and those who have worked with The Sentinel have found ready acceptance in the well-known metropolitan dailies of India. The other heartening aspect of my association with The Sentinel is the subsequent launching of newspapers in other languages as well. And what could be better news now than the launching of satellite editions of these newspapers very soon? I shall refrain from inflicting on my readers the fact that the sheer volume of editorial writing alone in about 22 years works out to well over 6,000 editorials or over three million words. Nor shall I talk about the challenges the paper has weathered to keep going. All this can wait for another day. Today it is time for goodbyes and thank yous. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to thousands of my readers who have written kind words of appreciation or letters of strong criticism. They have all been a major source of inspiration and edification. I also wish to thank all correspondents, writers and my colleagues without whom The Sentinel could not have been what it is. I would like to thank Shankar and Indira for all the friendship, freedom and respect I have had from them. I shall always cherish the memories of my long association with The Sentinel. It is reassuring to know that I am leaving the paper in very good hands. God bless you all, and may The Sentinel grow from strength to strength and continue to strive for the greatest good of the greatest number in the coming decades as well! D. N. Bezboruah _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [email protected] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
