Remembering grace

Someone who combined dazzling intellect and scholarship with humility, humour and a genuine curiosity about the lives of everybody she encountered, be it a housemaid or an XYZ chair of Weighty Studies at some Ivy League University or a troubled kid, is that rarest of rare human beings: a truly wonderful one.

Here are two obituaries that perhaps capture Meenakshi Mukherjee best of all- Farewell, guide: to Ma'am, with love and A woman for all seasons

And a comment that captures her erudition perfectly: "She never assumed the privilege of the pioneer..."

If only all pioneers were such.. and if only we'd just dropped in with that bottle of wine. And if only we could have met again after the last book; RC Dutt would have made such fun conversation. If only... Have fun, Meenakshi, wherever you are.