This is terrible news.
Paul and I knew each other for more than thirty years, as kindred
spirits who took a serious interest in Jainism at a time when hardly
anybody among our Indological colleagues knew how interesting and
important the study of Jainism is. Our first meetings in Mysore, where I
was living at the time, were mutually supportive and encouraging as
well as eminently joyful (tea at Lalit Mahal Palace, etc.).
The last time I met him was at the World Sanskrit Conference in
Vancouver. A colleague from Leiden asked him when he would retire.
“Another year, and I’ll vanish into darkness,” Paul said.
“Time to have a good look at him, while you still can,” I said aside to
the colleague.
“You can buy me a drink,” he said.
I have to disagree. As far as I’m concerned, he’ll never vanish into
darkness. He can’t.
Robert Zydenbos
--
Prof. Dr. Robert J. Zydenbos / ಪ್ರೊ.
ಡಾ. ರೊಬೆರ್ತ್ ಜೆಯ್ದೆನ್ಬೊಸ್
Institut für Indologie und Tibetologie
Department für Asienstudien
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Deutschland