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I want to begin by profusely thanking Carolyn Brewer, the General Editor of Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific for reposing her confidence in me to edit the Special Issue on India. She has been a constant friend and a competent editor, coordinating and promptly interacting with me to finalise the essays. Her calm and patience carried me through several difficult situations. I am grateful to all my friends, who cheerfully and readily disrupted their schedules and scholarly pursuits to help me in the stupendous task of completing this Special Issue on India. Some of them succumbed to the emotional pressure I exerted on them and refereed more than two essays each, the price they had to pay for friendship with me. Malashri Lal, extremely busy though she is with multiple academic and administrative responsibilities as the Professor of English and as the Joint Director, South Campus, University of Delhi, never stinted in giving me advice on certain crucial critical questions and leading me on to relevant sources. Sumanyu Satpathy, Professor and Head, Department of English, an old and intimate friend, was always available to discuss at length certain problematic issues. Rajesh Kumar Sharma, with a 'karmic' sense of commitment to scholarship, meticulously evaluated four essays. Niladri R. Chatterjee, too suffered at my hands, and Chandra Mohan steadfastly stood by me during the moments when I felt low. I thank them all for their help and support. I wish to make a particular mention of the help and guidance given by two of my most dependable friends, Beverley Curran and James Welker, who have always given precedence to my requests over their own scholarly projects. I am grateful to them. I am also thankful to Peter Dickinson, Sukrita Paul Kumar, Rajdeep Singh Gill, Usha Bande, Karen Gabriel, P.K. Vijayan, Vibha S. Chauhan, Naresh K. Jain, Akhil Katyal, Sonali Pattnaik, B.R. Nagpal, Saraswati Raju, for their valuable comments and critical suggestions to the authors of papers. A special word of thanks to Dr. Anju Vyas, Library Director, Centre for Women's Development Studies, New Delhi, whose friendly warmth and professional guidance in locating the materials has been invaluable. Additionally, I would like to thank, Ms. Deepa, and Mr. Vijay for promptly taking out the books/journals I needed from time to time. Last but not the least, I am thankful to my wife, Nilima, who often offered me insights into women's issues, from the position of experiential reality, coupled with her understanding and teaching of feminist texts.
Subhash Chandra
26 October 2009 |
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