Vijay Merchant was fond of repeating a story relating to his retirement. Whenever he was asked why he quit prematurely from first-class cricket, his stock reply would be: well, it is better to go with people wondering why, instead of having people clamouring why not. In his many avatars, Kautilya has lived by this Merchantian maxim.

After 200 consecutive columns that started four years ago in April 1998, it is time to sign off. The magazine bosses have scripted an exit policy. There is, of course, no VRS, no golden handshake. Just a corporate decision. No doubt Kautilya will reincarnate himself elsewhere but for now it is farewell two weeks earlier than D-Day when all regular columns are to be dropped.

Why Kautilya for this column, patterned after Bagehot, Lexington and Charlemagne in the world's leading weekly The Economist? Obviously, because his Arthashastra is the earliest available and the first great treatise on practical statecraft going beyond economics, because he is the great master of political economy and because his is the voice of a sherpa. This column was rooted in economics but was not confined to it.

This column was by a Congressman. But it never projected a party view-unlike some in the media who are not averse to propagandising on behalf of their political friends. On the contrary, some of the pieces got Kautilya into trouble with his party-the recent encomiums to A.B. Vajpayee while writing his political and moral epitaph being one example. His views on issues like the CTBT and privatisation have been at odds with the official Congress position. This has led to strictures but this columnist is convinced that a larger public interest must be served at all times even at some personal cost.

A typical column idea would begin germinating on a Sunday evening. Research would be done on Monday and Tuesday. Writing would take place on Wednesday with the final touches given on a Thursday. It was a tough discipline to produce something topical, something with durable academic content, something comprehensible to a diverse readership week after week. In some weeks there would be a surfeit of issues to write upon. But at times, it would be difficult to pursue something worthwhile. Sometimes the adrenaline would not stop flowing. However, on occasions those "grey cells" would be weighed down by fatigue. The most difficult part was to conjure up a catchy title to entice readers. But that was fun even if some could not be used-like BALCO Tere Dwar Khada Hai Jogi!

The column has drawn brickbats. Too clinical. Too cold-bloodedly analytical. Mea culpa. Kautilya has found it difficult to write about personalities unless absolutely essential. Here and there a few personal experiences have slipped in but that has been rare. Deliberately so. The column has also believed that there is space in our society for a genuine public intellectual, for a genuinely liberal position based entirely on the merits of the case.

Any regrets, apart from the prescribed departure? Kautilya's economics and that of this magazine are not radically different even though Kautilya does not share the magazine's disdain for the economic legacy of Nehru and Indira Gandhi. For instance, Nehru made India's outstanding success in higher education and in science and technology possible and the lady's greatest achievement was to usher in the Green Revolution. But every once in a while, Kautilya would feel unhappy with the stance taken on political and social issues by the magazine. Without wishing to make a virtue of a necessity, Kautilya must admit that the ambiguous position taken by the magazine on Narendra Modi confronted him with a dilemma: should he continue to write for a publication that he did not see taking a clear stand against the Gujarat chief minister? The magazine's enthusiasm for Murli Manohar Joshi's wild claims on the antiquity of Indian civilisation, its rubbishing of the intellectually brilliant "leftist" historians and its giving credibility to the dubious N.S. Rajarams are other instances when Kautilya has felt uncomfortable. But writing for the country's pre-eminent weekly drowned out all qualms.

Were there were any highs? Yes, especially when students would write asking for more details, requesting for more references. Yes, especially when the column got quoted in lectures, papers and even books and drew international attention. Yes, especially when the column spawned follow-up articles in other magazines and newspapers and also led to television discussions. Were there any embarrassments? Yes, when Kautilya would be accosted and congratulated for writing a column for Outlook. Confusion or clairvoyance? Is there a key message? Yes, economic liberalism in a framework of social obscurantism is both unacceptable and unsustainable.

That this magazine could run a semi-scholarly tract for four consecutive years without interference of any kind is a tribute to it. Thank you, India Today for making Kautilya possible and for keeping it going for 49 months at a stretch.

All Kautilya columns are archived at www.jairam-ramesh.com