People

Ranjan Ray (1949-2001) was one of my teachers at St Xaviers' College, Calcutta, when I was a physics undergraduate there in 1989-1992. However, over the years he became more than just my ex-tacher - he was my close friend, confidant and someone who I could always turn to for guidance. My tribute in memoriam.

Alan Turing (1912-1954) is one of the three people who have had considerable influence on the way I "think about thinking" :) - the other two being Ludwig Wittgenstein and Douglas Hofstadter. I was very fortunate to have come across the excellent biography of Turing by Andrew Hodges at a very early stage of my interest in the "mind".

Bimal Krishna Matilal (1935-1991) is the only Indian philosopher who has captivated my interest. I got to know about him through an interview printed in Desh, the bengali literary magazine (issue of May 31, 1986). Here is a scanned pdf copy of the interview: "Ek Naiyayik-er Nyay-Vishya (The Logical Universe of a Logician)" by Shubharanjan Dasgupta. Shortly after that, in 1987, I attended a lecture on moral dilemmas that he gave in R K Mission Institute of Culture at Calcutta. To tell the truth, I was a bit disappointed but I didn't know that he was dying of cancer. Later, as I started reading his books, I have developed an enormous admiration - especially his attempts at bridging the great divide between western and Indian philosophy.