Remembering Prof. Braj B Kachru
I remember meeting Prof. Braj B Kachru (Braj ji) in a Delhi home for the first time. I was in the first year of my M. Phil program at JNU and the Kachrus were in Delhi. Yamuna ji had a lecture in our Linguistics department, and during our informal conversation on the sidelines, I got an invite to visit them in this Delhi home. As I rang the doorbell, Braj ji opened the door, and before I even had the chance to get in, I was bombarded with linguistics-related questions. Fortunately for me, Yamuna ji arrived soon and rescued me. "कम से कम अंदर तो आने दो बच्चे को," she gently "chided" Braj ji.
Besides his academic accomplishment, one of the most enduring legacies of Braj ji is his humor. I had the privilege of having our Hindi TA office at the UIUC across from Prof. Kachru's office. Prof. Kachru would often pop into our office and tell a joke, and before I even had the chance to figure it out, he would already be halfway down the long 4th-floor hallway of the FLB.
There was never a dull moment in his company!
This is a beautiful tribute (from 2016) to Prof. Kachru's legacy by my friend Prof. Makarand Paranjape.