I am deeply grieved to report the passing away of by our dear A K Dasgupta, who was affectionately referred to by his students as Arunda (elder brother Arun). Above all, he was a wonderful human being. His scholarship, his objectivity and strong determination never to be swayed by mere names but only by intrinsic worth, his eagerness to add to his professional usefulness to his users, the respect and love he got from his bosses, users and mentors like Sri. B S Kesavan and Prof. Neelameghan, his wide reading, his contacts with scholars in many areas of knowledge and his ability to interpret his findings across many areas of knowledge was truly exemplary. Whenever I visited his home in Banjara Hills, I found him surrounded by tons of newspapers and books on all matter of subjects. When he retired from ASCI, I remember we discussed his options: whether to join NIRD or the Eenadu Newspaper group. I was quite clear that he would make his mark in a totally non-librarian area which indeed he did, showing to professionals like me that a librarian should aim for scholarship and not get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of librarianship and empty terminology. What a great example he set for all of us. With his passing away we have all lost a little of ourselves. Haravu -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.