Bimal Matilal

[madhav_deshpande at EDU.UMICH.CC.UM]

Status: RO

Dear Richard,
        I am deeply saddened by the news of Bimal's passing away.  I
was a student of his for two years at Pennsylvania, and I count him
among those few teachers of mine who left a permanent mark on me, not
only as scholars, but as great human beings.  I remember that during
a trip of mine to India, we were both at a university guest house, and
somehow my reservation had not been confirmed.  There was no room left
for me.  Bimal volunteered to share his room with me and I had the
opportunity to spend the next few days in his company.  Bimal was not
just an interpreter of Indian philosophy, but a philosopher in his
own right, and he taught me not just how to read a text, but how to
argue a point and how to evaluate an argument independently.  His
untimely death is indeed a great loss.
                                        Madhav M. Deshpande