ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Anything new started is always with mixed feelings. There is the joy of novelty, the determination of a missionary, but also the apprehension of a new comer. Will it click? Will it be liked? Will it serve any purpose at all? Is it worth the effort?

From the responses received, I can safely say that the phase of apprehension is over. Colleagues and friends from all over, esteemed teachers and researchers have called up or written to encourage the effort. I am extremely grateful to them. My esteemed teacher the late Prof. L.P. Shah from Mumbai was the first to call and offer appreciation. Prof V.N. Bagadia, teacher to so many of us, revered in the field of Psychiatry, called me up to congratulate me and sent in his subscription for MSM. I indeed felt blessed. It was also very gratifying to receive the subscription of Prof. N.N.Wig, another revered name in the field psychiatry, and of Prof (Dr.) S. G. Mudgal, a well respected name in the field of philosophy. The first subscription for Mens Sana Monographs to reach by post was from Prof. K. P. Dave, a friend and guide to so many of us in Psychiatry. My friend Dr. Milind Shejwal insisted on being the first subscriber and first gift subscriber, and my other friend Dr Vijay Thakker insisted on being the second only because the first was earlier taken over by Dr Milind. MSM has subscribers from all over India including Jalandhar, Ranchi, Kolhapur, Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Madgaon, Bhubhaneshwar, Miraj, Mysore, Satara, Panjim, Panchakula (Haryana), Srinagar, Mangalore and of course Mumbai, Thane and its outskirts. We wish to thank all of them for being with us. Mr. Thadani from Zion Pharmaceuticals offered to get the Publication registered with the Registrar of Newspapers and my grateful thanks to him. Zion Pharmaceuticals spontaneously offered to reach the first monograph to mental health workers all over India and I think that was indeed a very fine gesture on their part. Dr. A. K. Shinde and Ms. Geetanjali Shinde offered to sponsor a whole issue of MSM and we are grateful to them. They are waiting to sponsor another. My friend Subhash Nayak has taken over typesetting and printing work for which I wish to thank him wholeheartedly. I admire the patience with which he and his office carry out the numerous corrections and additions in getting the monographs ready for printing. M/s Sarfare Enterprises have been diligently reaching the issues to all corners of India promptly and they too deserve our thanks. Mr. Ganesh Iyer ,my friend, has most patiently worked over the MSM website and given it a wonderful shape.--https://mensanamonographs.tripod.com/. National Institute of Science Communication and Information Services , and Deputy Head NSL , Ms Naima Ilyas have been most kind to allot an ISSN number to Mens Sana Monographs ( ISSN 0973-1229 ) , and our grateful thanks go to them too.

So many colleagues in the field of psychiatry, medical professionals, college libraries, journalists and friends working with NGO’s have become subscribers and appreciated the effort. Prof. N.N. Wig, Prof. Emeritus, PGIMER, Chandigarh has written a letter "to express my appreciation of the work you are doing. It is something different from the routine medical articles in India and hence a refreshing and welcome change". Dr. S.M. Channabasavanna, Former Director / Vice Chancellor, NIMHANS, writes to say "he really enjoyed going through them (copies of MSM) because of their topics of current interest, whether it is suicide free society, public health policy or the current one on the goal Health for all. These are all contemporary issues, which concern professionals, public and the government. I only wish all the agencies concerned about Health read these meaningful articles and take up the issues. I congratulate Dr. Shakuntala A Singh and yourself for your excellent work". Prof Srinivasa Murty, Prof. of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore, has written to "congratulate you for writing a very important document", and sent an interesting information manual on Riots : Psychological care for Individuals, which makes interesting reading. Dr. R. M. Chokhani, fellow psychiatrist and friend, has written "to felicitate you two on your endeavour to bring about the Fourth Psychiatric Revolution through the Mena Sana Monographs". Dr M. G. Khandekar, esteemed Senior Family Physician, has written about his otherwise hale and hearty anaesthetist sister settled in the U.S.A., who suffered a massive cardiac arrest from viewing of the WTC collapse beamed continuously on TV channels and who unfortunately expired. Dr. C. Shamasundar from Bangalore writes back to say, "It is an important issue and very timely and can be a good stimulus for Indian authors to start addressing such problems in greater numbers... Keep up the good work".

All in all, a satisfying first year which motivates us to enter the second with this Annual 2004. I seek your suggestions and advice, your views and opinions on the issues raised by this collection. Please feel free to write or call. It will be a great pleasure to interact with you.

Meanwhile, all the best.

Ajai R. Singh