I am delighted that Pratiksha Baxi has agreed to join us as a regular contributor. Her previous guest posts on contemporary academic culture in India (available here and here), and her post on the tabloidization of the law bear the promise of many stimulating posts on a diverse range of topics in the future. Pratiksha is currently an Assistant Professor at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU, New Delhi. Her official web profile is here, while her self-introduction is available here. My own hope is that Pratiksha will, thanks to her own training and background, cause the rest of us to view the law from a much wider perspective than has traditionally been accorded to it in our constitutional culture.

The flurry of new contributors to the blog is a welcome development. This blog was started almost exactly four years ago when Vikram decided to move to blogger from his personal website, and later invited some others to come on board over time. Looking back at the initial series of posts is a faintly embarassing experience, but it has been an interesting journey. Over these four years, several people joined the enterprise: some have stayed on, while others either didn’t or have appeared after long gaps. Some of us have been posting with varying levels of consistency, but it is clear that for this project to continue with vigour, regularity of posts is essential. I say this even as I am mindful of the time and effort that even casual blogging take up. This is a good place to acknowledge the great labours expended by V. Venkatesan in revamping the character of this blog, and in playing a stellar role in keeping the group together, in taking on the unpleasant tasks of sending out reminders to contributors, and in identifying and inviting new contributors and guest posts.

My hope is that the new contributors will take ownership of this collective project, and will strive to leave an imprint of their own personalities upon the blog. Their enthusiasm and engagement will hopefully cause older contributors who may have become preoccupied with other pursuits (I include myself here), to return to active blogging.