It is with great sadness that I read about the passing of Professor Jan Heesterman. He was in many different ways a remarkable person and personality and I am glad and grateful to have had him as my mentor - being, as he said himself, one of his most "unlikely" products. In spite of, or perhaps thanks to, the fact that our fields of research and writing were quite different, we were able to engage in sparkling discussions and differences of opinions. These have helped me to grow academically. It was only at a later stage and by working outside the sometimes quite narrow field of Indology that I realised how strongly his ideas have influenced my own work. 

I wish his family all strength to bear this great loss. I also wish the academic community great strength to cope with the loss of one of its great thinkers - a loss that is irreplaceable.

Hanne M. de Bruin