Journey begins with small steps…!

The year 2014 has brought smile on the face of each and every member of the Indian Society of Neuroanaesthesiology and Critical Care (ISNACC). The reason for this is not too far to seek. Journal of Neuroanaesthesiology and Critical Care (JNACC) has finally seen the light of the day. With the launching of the journal, ISNACC has achieved another mile stone. It is a red letter day not only for the editorial team but also for the entire neuroanaesthesia fraternity of the country. I am extremely proud to pen the editorial of the inaugural issue of JNACC. The journey for the publication of JNACC has been long and arduous one but, its fruits have been sweet. There were innumerable obstacles, which needed to be overcome, and I am grateful to the executive committee and all the members of our young Society whose unstinted support made it possible to scale all the hurdles. The idea to have our own journal was conceptualised a couple of years ago when Prof. HH Dash, former Head of Neuroanaesthesiology at AIIMS, New Delhi was given the onerous task to bring out the ISNACC Newsletter half yearly. This was a small step towards the publication of the journal. The goal of the journey was to bring out our own journal. It took the society a few years and lots of hiccups to realise its dream. All of us practising neuroanesthesia felt a long awaited need to have a journal of our own where everyone could contribute and learn from the experience of others. After the USA, India takes pride in being the only other nation to bring out a dedicated neuroanaesthesia journal. I, in particular, am fortunate to have in the editorial team, Dr. Girija Prasad Rath and Dr. Hemanshu Prabhakar, both possessing a never-say-die spirit. Their enthusiasm to start the neuroanaesthesia journal can be gauged from the fact that they never at any time were in doubt that it was not possible for the journal to see the light of day. They are a major moving force behind this monumental achievement and they keep egging on the other members of the Society to submit articles. If only the junior members of the Society take a leaf out of their book, very soon we will see JNACC become a giant in the neuroanaesthesia literary world. Let us all take a New Year oath that all of us will strive hard to continuously improve the quality of the journal and make it one of the world class publications.

The publication of JNACC has brought tremendous responsibility for the members of the Society and, I do wish that the members will not tend to run away from it. Let there be no room for complacency because we have to raise the bar of the JNACC for which, the editorial team would need quality original studies and interesting and informative correspondences. I am sanguine that on seeing the first issue of JNACC on your office table, you will get impetus to conduct good research. In this context, I wish to remind the seniors, since they enjoy an exalted position, juniors look at them for teaching and training the nitty-gritty of research. At the same time the juniors also have to show enthusiasm and dispel the notion that good research is possible only in big hospitals. One can conduct a quality research even with meagre resources, only if one thinks out of the box. Let lack of adequate resources not become an excuse. Both seniors as well as juniors will need to complement each other. Needless to say, there is no room for generation gap when the issues of concern are academics as well as research. One must realise that the outcome of a quality research paper not only helps the mankind at large but also brings laurels to its writers.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”

Henry Ford