Dear All, The sad demise of Dr. Harish Chandra is a severe blow to the LIS profession and a personal loss for me ! He was a performer par excellence as a Practicing Librarian...A passionate professional with total commitment to his activity area. The IITM Library in its existing enviable status and with its strong bondage with the academic community, stands testimony to his performance excellence. He had significantly contributed to the profession by way of the scores of his scholarly papers, presentations, participatory role in world bodies as Advisor, Consultant and Promoter of quality in the profession. He was widely known and highly visible among the Info stakeholders in India and abroad. His expertise and contributions were well acknowledged through the awards and recognitions conferred on him nationally and internationally. He was under treatment for kidney problem from quite some time, but was back to office a few months ago. Soon after reading the message of Dr. Sangeetha Kaul in LIS-Forum, I had contacted Dr. Hariharan at Chennai(SALIS/CSIR-SERC), who was a close associate of Dr. Harish Chandra -both in his professional and personal capacity. I was told that, of late, his condition worsened, was admitted in the Malar Hospital, Chennai, where he breathed his last on last Saturday. The cremation was held on Monday, the 16th June, in Chennai. I had the opportunity to associate with him on several occasions. Notable among them were a visit to his Library when its modernization was almost at the final stage; at the SALIS Annual Conference at Karunya University, Coimbatore ; at a Librarians' Workshop at UC College, Aluva, apart from our occasional telephone calls. Let me also share with you an unforgettable episode I had experienced during my visit to IITM Library. He took me to all floors and functional areas of the Library. Then we came down to the Circulation Control Area, where a queue of students was seen formed. He informed me that the new Smart Card System was being introduced on that day and wanted me to formally launch it ! Totally unexpected and embarrassing moment for me ! I was just on a casual visit. I insisted that as the CEO of the Centre, it should invariably be HIS role to launch it ! Instead, he quickly split the queue into two and at his insistence, both of us concurrently performed the ceremony ! Indeed an unforgettable event! I remember gratefully and with nostalgic feelings, how he helped RRL (CSIR) Trivandrum for a mission-mode information analytics work, long ago, when e-Consortia in India was the monopoly of IITs. It was an excellent example of how pragmatism in resource-sharing helps saving of substantial foreign exchange. Our last meeting was at Trivandrum when he was on an official visit to Kerala University. We had an exclusive evening together, with a marathon solo discussion on professional matters. It was an occasion to dissect the LIS profession in India over the years, only to conclude that erosion of excellence in LIS profession is a tragic reality, with apparently no simple solution in the visible future. He was deeply concerned about the deteriorating quality of LIS Education in the country and the widening gap between the professionals and the user community in the work environment. He had great hopes on the role Professional Societies in improving the plight. Then we had supper, dropped him at his Guest House and then bid farewell ! Now sadly realize that it was our 'Last Supper' together ! Dr. Harish Chandra was a lone walker in certain respects. His style of operation was more of PRACTICING than PREACHING. Let the newGen LIS professionals learn the 'HOW' and 'WHAT' of his contributions in the institution building, taking IITM Library as a Case Study. My heart-felt tributes to the departed ! My deep condolences to his bereaved wife and children ! Sadasivan KP Consultant (Library) IIITMK, Technopark, Trivandrum & Former Head, Knowledge Resource Centre, RRL/NIIST(CSIR), Trivandrum 919037031147 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.