How Bibek Debroy was different from his peers

Journalist, author, lawyer, diplomat, and one of India’s most irreverent wits, Khushwant Singh wrote a famous syndicated weekly column titled, With malice towards one and all. His column’s title comes to mind while writing this tribute to Bibek Debroy, who died on November 1 at the much younger age of 69. One of Maharashtra’s towering personalities of the past century was PK Atre, who provided tutelage to an early aspirant and later famous playwright, Vijay Tendulkar. In his tribute, Tendulkar concludes: “Despite my closeness, I still don’t know this versatile man and he remains an enigma.” These lines fit Bibek Debroy too, genius in many ways, a renaissance man, whose writings on economics and Indology did great service to the nation, but who also remained hidden and silent in crucial ways.