Our beloved Mr Sinha is no more. He passed away on 13 August 2017. Besides being a conscientious reviewer of books for our newspaper, Sinha Saab served as an unofficial friend and philosopher, musing on the state of the world over cups of tepid tea. So newspaperish, it made us feel. Our author for the book Kautilya, Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts for twenty two years and now Professor Emeritus of Economics, Balbir Sihag was a close friend. He wrote to us:
My first meeting with Bhoopendra was in July of 1967 at Jubilee Hall hostel of Delhi University. He was working at the Institute of Economic Growth and I was a Law student. We used to meet at the Dining hall and the Common Room and have discussions on various issues. We clicked and became friends within a very short period of time and it strengthened as we both were selected in Indian Economic Service and then travelled together to our Training Center as we both lived in Model Town. Being from a village in Haryana, I was always the first one to get on the bus, but Bhoopendra frequently missed the bus as he was from Lucknow, very polite and made sure that everyone else got on the bus before him. I had to start making him stand in front of me and used to push him on the bus using his Lucknow style: you be first (pehle aap). He was a noble soul and put everyone’s interests ahead of his own.
One time he was visiting Harvard University and did not contact me right away despite the fact he had my telephone number and address. I told him that I would report to his superiors and request for his demotion for this lapse. The fact was that he was always very concerned about not causing any kind of inconvenience to anyone.
He was extremely giving person, a true portrait of Vedic culture, very generous with his time, money and ideas. He would go out of the way to help anyone in need. He read the drafts of my papers and the book and made invaluable contributions. Despite repeated requests he did not allow me to add his name as a co-author. He was polite but very firm and would never compromise with his ethical values. He was smart, insightful, hard-working, high achiever and above all a true patriot like his father, who was a freedom fighter. He held very important positions and made highly valuable contributions at the Ministries of Finance and Railways. His untimely departure has left a vacuum in my life. May Ishawara give his Ataman peace!