In Memory of Govind Purushottam Deshpande (1938–2013)

 

In Memory of Govind Purushottam Deshpande (1938–2013)

 

The death of Govind Purushottam Deshpande (GoPu and GPD to his friends and fans) recently at Pune is an immense loss to the academia world-over, Indian theatre and culture. With his death we have lost an intellectual and activist who was known for his intellectual inquisitiveness and debate-dialogue; the two genres becoming rarity these days. It was a wonderful experience to read him, listen to his lecture (including class-lecture) and witness a play penned by him. The curiosity, challenging the myths, re-interpreting the world, questioning the reality, faith in Socialism and eternal belief in the rise of downtrodden were the hall marks of his creativity. Darling of the converts he was equally effective in winning over non-converts or keeping debate alive with the latter.

 

He lived an active creative life, taught at the Center for East Asian Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University [JNU], New Delhi. Though he retired from JNU but true to maxim, a good teacher never retires, continued to contribute immensely in the fields of his choice. He was a popular columnist in the Economic and Political Weekly. He was an internationally acclaimed China expert who long back argued that faced with the unipolar world and hegemonic designs of USA it would be prudent for both India and China to enter into judicious relationship. He argued that ‘neo-conservative’ world order necessitated “a process of mutually arriving at an understanding of the implications of the American monopoly or dominance of the world distribution of power”. If India and China want to avoid a scenario in which they compete for becoming foot soldiers of USA, GPD’s sage advice remains valid even today.