Unstoppable Biyotkesh: An Obituary

Prof. Biyotkesh Tripathy is no more. He passed away in the wee hours of 2^nd April 2007. He was seventy-three. He lived a fiercely independent life committed to scholarship. An extremely loving and warm person that he was, he hardly failed to encourage any genuine endeavour that he perceived new and innovative.

The Tribal Tribune received his encouragement in ample measures, not in words alone but in writing that adorned its pages of twenty-three issues. His was a long professional life as a professor of English literature engaged in the study of the language of powerful in all its varied experiences, yet he detoured and delved into the exploration of literature that lay rich in the community of the indigenous  people, the Tribals. Volumes he collected braving the scorching sun in the remotest areas the state of Orissa.

Tribes after tribes he covered transiting from one worldview to another, recording, scribbling, photographing their every saying action and manners. What he gained out of his interaction with the tribals, on being transcribed ran into 17000 pages, about  200 CDs and two books. 

To share with the larger world was his obsessive compulsion. He made all that he gained available to any one who wanted, be it the archive of Indiana University in USA or Indira Gandhi Manav Sangrahalaya in Bhopal or a recent e-zine like The Tribal Tribune hosted on internet from Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

Yet he hated to share his sufferings. He remained unconcerned about his failing health.  Never  allowed himself to be persuaded to stop his work on any ground even if it was serious illness. He was indeed unstoppable.

With his demise the Tribal Tribune lost a great source of inspiration, of advice and encouragement. His unstoppable spirit to work, how ever shall be cherished all through The Tribal Tribune stays on web.