I Witness

It's time. The earth, the sky, the wintry sunlight, the nip in the air, the fire in the heart, all tell you it's time to step out of the old and reach for the new. So after half a decade with you right here, 'I Witness' is stepping down. It's time to recharge batteries. 'I Witness' started when the excitement over 'India Shining' was at its peak, in the last days of the BJP-led NDA government. Since then you and I have witnessed momentous events and vast changes. We have seen the devastating tsunami, escalating terror, inescapable recession. In five years, without moving an inch, we have changed residences, lifestyles and identities. Your house is twice as expensive. You shop for packaged stuff at supermarkets, neglecting fresh fare from the neighbourhood grocer. You spend more time stuck in traffic jams and more money on lifestyle enhancing therapy. You live in a proud nuclear state, as a pal of the US. You don't represent a developing nation, you represent a regional superpower. 

As Sophocles said, "There is no witness so terrible, no accuser so powerful as conscience that dwells within us." Till we meet again, I leave with you that precious witness. Do nurture it. 

Antara Dev Sen's last article for The Week.