IS IT FOURTY or forty? The latter, of course. But I cannot think of any other number which presents such a confusion. Dictionaries hint that fourty was in use in the 18th century and died a natural death. Languages go through some spring cleaning in their evolution, so does the media space. So, forty is a long time, especially in the newsweekly space. This is my way of saying that THE WEEK is stepping into its fortieth year. Let me thank you, dear reader, for your support and criticism. There is no us without you.

When my father, K.M. Mathew, resolutely started this newsweekly in December 1982, we had no idea of what the future would bring—both for us and our readers. Six months later Kapil’s Devils would bring home the World Cup. On our second anniversary we mourned the death of innocents in the Bhopal gas tragedy. In between that triumph and tragedy, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian astronaut and borrowed Allama Iqbal’s lines to tell prime minister Indira Gandhi how India looked from space: Sare jahan se acha.

India’s rise has been THE WEEK’s, too. For nearly two decades now, your favourite magazine has been the country’s largest selling English newsweekly, as certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

We are marking the start of the 40th anniversary year with a twin issue. The first volume looks at nation builders (like J.R.D. Tata) and those who carry forward the torch (like Menaka Guruswamy). The package comes to you with an opener from Rajmohan Gandhi. The second volume looks at some iconic Indian dishes; it comes with ‘spice tales’. Looking at the food story I thought about how everything is a bouquet in our country—food, religion, attire, language, terrain…. THE WEEK, too, is a bouquet put together every Wednesday by a committed and professional team. My love and thanks to all of them.

The anniversary package also looks at other interesting stories like the prehistoric shark from Jaisalmer, the FIFA World Cup in Doha next year, the literary editors who bully and cajole writers into producing your favourite books, and so on.

I am writing this from the national capital, where a few hours ago, Dr Bibek Debroy—our columnist, and chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the prime minister—unveiled the 40th anniversary logo, which was designed by Aman Sudarsh, video editor of Manorama Horizon. Dr Debroy’s kind and generous words about THE WEEK warmed us all up in cold, cold Delhi. On the stage with Dr Debroy and me was R. Prasannan, our senior coordinating editor in Delhi. He is one of India’s most accomplished defence journalists. But, to us, he is much more—he is THE WEEK’s first trainee; perhaps, the first employee, too, considering that founding editor V.K.B. Nair was already a veteran Malayala Manorama journalist by then.

That is how we started, with an editor and a trainee sitting around a huge table. Unbelievable, I know.

Here is wishing you a merry Christmas and a blessed new year, dear reader. See you in 2022.