PROLIFIC: Sudhir Kakar is an internationally renowned psychoanalyst and author with several publications to his credit. To name some of them there is ‘The Indians, Portrait of a People,’ ‘The Ecstasy of Desire’ , ‘Mira and the Mahatma’ and some more

By Sudhir Kakar

I recall the psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar referring to me as a best muckraker in a positive sense. As he has pointed out in the early days in the United States, muckrakers were considered as positive influences

I FIRST became aware of Rajan Narayan when I moved to Benaulim in 2002. He was the editor of the OHeraldo then and I had written a letter to the newspaper, both complaining and asking him about my garbage problem since the only space to dump it was far away at the outskirts of Margao. Rajan Narayan printed the letter, reminding everyone in Goa of the existence of this huge problem that continues to persist, albeit in an alleviated form.
In the years since then Rajan has continued to highlight, with his characteristic forthrightness, the problems bedeviling the beautiful state of Goa that is the adoptive home of both of us and who love the land and its people.
What I have always admired in Rajan is his courage in pursuing stories, no matter where they lead, and how they impact the powerful in politics and governance. Even his worst detractors, if they retain a semblance of honesty, would reluctantly testify to his fearlessness. This courage has come at a huge cost, impacting his health and material circumstances and endangering the existence of the weekly he founded with his wife, the irrepressible Tara who has stood by him during some sad times personally and professionally.
Rajan Narayan is a muckraker. The term muckraker was first used for progressive American journalists at the beginning of the 20th century, who exposed corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions through their hard hitting investigative journalism.