Remembering Professor P. Lal

Remembering Professor P. Lal

Professor P. Lal passed away on the 3rd of November 2010. Some of the articles written about him and condolence messages we received have been put up here.

Obituaries: Scanned Images:
Obituary in The Economist:

The Economist

Ruchir Joshi (The Telegraph, India):

Ruchir Joshi – The Telegraph India

Antara Dev Sen (The Asian Age):

Antara Dev Sen

Shashi Deshpande and others (The Hindu):

Shashi Deshpande and others

Rita Bhimani (The Telegraph, India):

Rita Bhimani – The Telegraph India

 

Condolence messages from writers published by Writers Workshop:


He was really like a father figure to us, beginners.”

~ Vimala Ramu
5 November 2010

Men such as he belong to a very rare category of burnished gold, like the Rishis of old. His verse-by-verse translation of Mahabharata is a task that is completely superhuman. Without divine shakti, such a project cannot even be thought about, much less attempted and completed. His personal contribution to the world of Indian English poetry and poets is unparalleled. And on a personal front, his warm words to me, when I sent him my manuscript of poems Seahorse in the Sky, will ever remain etched in my mind.”

~ G. Kameshwar
8 November 2010

Prof Lal was a distant beacon of hope for us, the aspiring writers.”

~ Amitava Chakrabarty
10 November 2010

I shall always remember the Professor; he accepted my script within 24 hours of receipt. My dealings with him were to the point, friendly, and co-operative. I was aware of his exalted reputation and there was always a deference. He truly belonged to an age of probity and conviction; they don’t make such men in our age…

And I shall never forget him too for launching my first book. This is a gratitude I shall carry with me through my time.”

~ A. Sathyanarayanan
10 November 2010

Professor P. Lal was a wonderful, rare, amazing and delightful person and I have always felt so fortunate to have met him and very privileged to have been published by him…

I love to remember going to his amazing lectures on the Mahabharata for the few short weeks I was in Kolkata, and how beautifully gracious he was when I met him. He invited me to tea at his home… I love thinking of that day, of being introduced to the philosophy and workings of Writers Workshop … Publishing done for ideal motives. And I was more grateful for and heartened by Professor Lal’s response to the manuscript he went on to publish than I can say, for he apparently understood as much about what I left out as what was there.”

~ Inez Baranay
11 November 2010

Readers can also browse through tributes written by:

Amrita Bera: http://goo.gl/9C9LY
Kanchan Gupta:http://goo.gl/m5p76
Pratik Kanjilal: https://goo.gl/fWJgt2
Gopikrishnan Kottoor: http://goo.gl/fYYk1
V. Ramaswamy: http://goo.gl/zTqL4
Suhel Seth: Hindustan Times, 12 November 2010