OBITUARY 67 Krishna's house: several doctoral theses were completed in this manner, and not only of those who were her direct supervisees. An aspect of her personality and thinking which must be recorded is her unswerving radicalism. Again, because this was founded on a deeply thought out bedrock of philosophy, it was impervious to and unshaken by temporary and contingent crises. She was deeply conscious of the reality of social exploitation in this country, and extremely sensitive to and disturbed by what she saw as the rise of authoritarian tendencies and of communal and caste sentiments in recent years. Activists of the women's movement, the trade-union movement and the broader political movement on the left found in her a staunch and consistent ally. They never had to explain anything to her when they went with letters and petitions on issues as diverse as the Muslim women's bill, the amendment to the dowry act, or the Mandal question. She had already anticipated their arguments and reached further than they had on the basis of a more subtle and complex understanding of social issues. It is not only the world of academic scholarship which has been irreparably impoverished by the premature passing away a week ago of Krishna Bharadwaj: the loss is as great for the dwindling band of those who uphold what she thought of as the good, old-fashioned values. UTSA PATNAIK * March 15,1992