“I can hardly believe it. It is hard to think of the Delhi scene without Ranga's wise counsel and gravitas.
I have many memories over the years of him. But perhaps the best go back to Steve's conference in the summer of 1984. This was a conference on South Asian security. We assembled a stellar cast including K Subrahmanyam. Ranga was a wonderful presence - witty, worldly, wise, and cool-headed when things got a bit hot between the Indians, Pakistanis, and Americans as they inevitably did.
I was a second year PhD student, but Ranga took me and my fellow students there very seriously and did not condescend to us. One evening, I took a group of the more adventurous participants to a student bar in Urbana. None was more adventurous than Ranga who stayed late and regaled us with his rather wicked observations of the conference and his large fund of jokes!
India's security community has truly lost one of its stars, and we shall be the poorer for his absence. He has left behind a rich intellectual and organisational legacy, and all those who worked with him and under him and who benefitted from his intelligence and insight will be bereft.”
Professor Kanti P Bajpai, National University of Singapore
“One time, at a workshop in Sri Lanka, Prof Chari saw me loafing around the corridors with a glass of single malt, humming an Edith Piaf song (in a rather unflattering voice) in the evening. I must have been really distracted, for I did not notice him approach. He was on his way to his room and looked visibly tired. He walked past, then stopped, turned around and called out to me. I turned around, forgetting to stop humming. Then I said, "Hey, Prof Chari!" He looked at my glass and then gave me the 'Prof Chari smile' and said, "Hmm...Looks like you're having fun," smiled, and left, not before wishing me good night - even as I waited, feeling like a thorough oaf, considering the possibilities of what his trademark smile meant this time. The next morning at breakfast as I scurried around (as usual), I stopped to look for my room-mate, and I was holding a glass of apple juice. I looked around the dining hall, slightly dazed, unable to locate my room-mate, when Prof Chari appeared out of nowhere, looked at my glass, gave his smile again, and went, "At 8:30 AM?" and walked away chuckling. It took me a couple of seconds before I realised he had done it again!
I will miss him incredibly for everything he taught us, directly and indirectly, especially about how being observant, of even the smallest things, will go a long way; about how he made even the least influential person in the room feel as valuable as the most influential person in the room; and most of all, I will miss his brilliant wit that often caught us off guard but always left us grinning.
Farewell Prof Chari, they don't make them like you anymore.”
Rajeshwari Krishnamurthy, IPCS
“Chari and I were batch-mates, joining the service the same year, IAS and IFS respectively. The early months we spent together when we were being polished into shape in Mussoorie created an enduring bond: probationers went their different ways after training but never lost the early sense of togetherness.
Several years later we met up again in Delhi where Chari by now had a key assignment in the Ministry of Defence. He had already made in Defence his mark but had more to offer and soon moved on to take charge of the prestigious Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), reserved for individuals of proven intellectual capacity. This was to become Chari’s launch pad for his illustrious subsequent career.
Under Chari’s stewardship, IDSA added greatly to its standing made as a powerhouse in its field. It maintained elevated standards of intellectual rigour, Chari himself setting the pace with many articles and analyses that became a contribution to policy formulation. He specialised in the complex area of nuclear policy. He straddled the worlds of defence and foreign affairs, which gave me the rare pleasure of interacting with him after many years as an old friend and admired colleague.
Eventually, Chari helped set up a think-tank of his own, the IPCS, which rapidly acquired a high reputation for expertise and sturdy independence. IPCS had an international reach and its views were widely respected at home and in the larger strategic community. This will be his enduring contribution, and he is rare among his fellows in leaving such an important legacy for those who follow.
All those present at this memorial function will deeply mourn his premature loss and join in expressing condolences and deepest sympathy to the bereaved family.”
Ambassador Salman Haidar, President, IPCS
“Mr Chari was more than a scholar. He was, to use an outdated term, a true gentleman. The first time I met him, he engaged me in a conversation about nuclear winter. I was a young and lowly research assistant and quite flattered by the attention. What made me a life-long fan of Mr Chari was that as we were talking, a very senior Indian diplomat came up to us and tried to pry Mr Chari away. He kept the diplomat waiting, completed our conversation, asked if I had any further questions, and only then gave his attention to the former Foreign Secretary of India. Not something that most people in New Delhi would do.
In my academic and personal life I have tried to abide by the lesson I learnt from Mr Chari that day - above all, civility matters, and that extends to the youngest and least influential person in the room.”
Dr Amit Gupta, USAF Air War College
“Howie and I were shocked to receive the terrible news of Ranga's passing. Especially for me, he was really a guide to my almost 40-year professional engagement with India. He had the rare gift of being able to articulate with clarity and sympathy both his own views and those of people he disagreed with. At a time when India and the United States had serious differences on the issues that were his professional focus, and when Howie and I still represented the United States, he helped us understand the Indian perspective - and helped us identify ways of bringing the two together. I admired his intellectual independence, and hugely valued his loyalty and friendship.”
Ambassadors Teresita and Howard Schaffer, US
“It is difficult to convey completely the quantum of loss that Ranga's passing away means to those of us who were his colleagues. So for you and his family it is a monumental and grievous loss. While expressing our condolences Rose and I can only pay our sincere tributes to a great achiever who toiled so very hard for national and world objectives with an endless commitment and devotion. The institutions and scholars whom he has inspired will doubtless continue to build and enlarge on that legacy.”
Rose and Ambassador Eric Gonsalves
“Every time I would get an email from Prof Chari that read, “Tanvi, please find enclosed my suggestions on your commentary - with track changes,” I have to confess I would be nervous. The scores of red highlights on the document meant the draft had to be redone, again. That was Prof Chari for us, for my colleagues and for me - the teacher who put red marks on our essays, who read through our work line-by-line and word-by-word. And he was the wise old man who used words like marvellous, excellent and congratulations generously, who unfailingly ended conversations with a thank you. Prof Chari walked upright and with a smile - that smile could have meant anything really, that he was happy with your work, or your draft was so poor it could only be met with a smile! He has been a teacher and an inspiration.”
Tanvi Kulkarni, formerly of the IPCS
“I was fresh out of University when I joined the IPCS as a Research Officer in early 2008. During the first few weeks at the Institute, I was a tad intimidated by Mr Chari’s seemingly serious demeanour. However, I soon realised how terribly misleading outward appearances and first impressions could be. In subsequent months, I would go on to discover a man of great warmth, wit, and magnanimity in Mr Chari. At a particular point during my tenure at IPCS, when I found myself irresolute and sceptical about the research area I had been working on, I decided to seek Mr Chari’s counsel, who patiently heard my concerns and encouraged me to identify issues that were of keen interest to me. On his advice, I wrote and sent him an article on ‘Bangladesh and climate change’, which not only met with unreserved appreciation from him, but also evoked his interest in extending the study further, to other related concerns such as environmental refugees, watershed management, and environmental degradation, among others. And to me that is what was most special about Mr Chari - his openness, his ability to engage with new ideas, and his unhesitating encouragement to younger researchers to push themselves beyond what was 'comfortable' to explore newer dimensions of social, political and economic concerns in the South Asian region. In his passing, I believe the IPCS has lost an able mentor and visionary. He will be deeply missed for a variety of reasons, but most importantly for his warmth and for his friendship.”
Sonali Huria, National Human Rights Commission
“Ranga was a key figure in Brookings' ties with India, as well as CISAC's engagement there. He was the closest I had to a brother (except for my own brother), a wonderful partner in many endeavours - especially in building a new generation of thinkers and IPCS - they are his enduring legacy.”
Professor Stephen P Cohen, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
“Once when we were working on a budget he asked me, "Arrey bhai, Kripal, iska beejak kahan hai, zara humay dikhayega?" I thought to myself, “What is this ‘beejak’? Is it something I was supposed to do or bring for the meeting?” I came out of the office very tense and asked Pujan, his driver of many years, “What is ‘beejak’?!” He said, with a smile, “Invoice hoga.” Turned out he was asking for the pro forma invoice for that transaction. I laughed so much. And, Prof Chari seemed to enjoy the fact that he managed to get me so worked up with his shuddh Hindi.
The second incident happened when I had just joined IPCS. I was filing Prof Chari’s Income Tax Returns and had taken the document to him without checking it thoroughly. By mistake, I had shown the tax to be more than his income. Upon seeing this, he looked at me and said, "Is baar kya tax apne ghar se dena padega? Kamai se jyada tax? Aap accountant hai bhi ya nahi?" - after which he started to laugh. Through humour he taught me an important lesson: to always double-check my papers before their final submission. I have never made the same error again.”
Kripal Singh Rawat, former Accountant, IPCS
“His departure is indeed a great loss not only to academic community of India but also of South Asia. His contributions are well appreciated. He was a decent man with extremely pleasant mannerisms. I am sure that he will be missed by many.”
Professor Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, National Defence University, Pakistan
“Mr Chari began using the 'Track Changes' option in MS Word over the last few years as he edited articles. When I first joined the IPCS, however, he was still merrily using his pen on printed paper chopping without mercy any signs of the superfluous and the repetitive. I had the unenviable task - a brief I held for the first few years of my time at the IPCS - of deciphering Mr Chari's tiny running hand and incorporating the changes before putting up the article online. I must confess, I didn't always agree with his changes and, on occasion, would cut the author some slack. What I realised over time, however, was that Mr Chari's careful edits provided a window into practice and thinking within the Government of India that he so ably served in multiple capacities. The IPCS is a think-tank and Mr Chari was constantly training us young researchers to think and write in a manner that Indian officials would understand with the limited time at their disposal and the overwhelming range of issues they had to tackle on a daily basis. And yet, he also encouraged creative thinking and contrarian views from his researchers, even delighted in them.
The IPCS Article’s 850-word limit was something we youngsters often groaned under the tyranny of but together with the sparse, even dry, style of writing Mr Chari encouraged, it provided the discipline that many of us required to get our thoughts and writing in order at a very early stage in our careers. We imbibed and imparted these lessons without quite being aware of it, ‘ragging’ new entrants by giving them the task of transcribing the changes made by Mr Chari’s famous pen. That pen is stilled but the lessons will continue.
Dr Jabin T Jacob, Assistant Director and Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies
“Chari helped introduce me to India. Initials opening up a name in full - poetry really - shortened into a simple handle. Call me Ranga. A gentle man of deep conviction. A nurturer of new talent into a field dominated by retirees - like him. A sing-song voice. A patient explainer. Going against the grain, without friction. A friend.”
Michael Krepon, Co-Founder & Senior Associate, The Stimson Center
“I had two relationships with Mr Chari, or Rangu as we called him: as an uncle first and a brother-in-law later. In more recent years, another dimension was added to this weave: he became my mentor in international relations. We co-authored two books on the security dynamics in South Asia and Northeast Asia. He was the guiding spirit and a source of inspiration and it was at his insistence that I got around to writing these books. We lived barely a 100 yards from each other and I met him almost every evening. Once in a while a small idea sparked research projects in his head, to which he would then meticulously give proper shape and form.
During the tenure of both these projects I dreaded bumping into him in the evenings because disciplined and organised as he was, he’d want an update on my work constantly - “so, what are you findings?” or “how far have you reached?” I never knew how to answer that because frankly I would have added very little during the course of the day or even a couple of days and sometimes weeks. In the same time he’d have written 2000 words! By the end of it I’d have to run a super marathon even to be in the running, leave alone trying to match him.
Thank you Rangu, I’ll miss you immensely, not least your numerous anecdotes and jokes. I wish I could recall them but my brain is too dulled now. It was privilege to work with you as a professional colleague and to learn from you as a niece to whom, when she was seven years old, in a fit of absent-minded avuncular affection, you presented a dead bird’s wings!”
Prof Vyjayanti Raghavan, Korean Studies, JNU
“Prof Chari was a splendid mentor to so many. In my first few weeks of work at IPCS in 2010, he generously took me through article edits and invited me to his birthday party. I remember talking through the outline and sourcing of a special report I drafted on a positive scenario for nuclear risk reduction in Southern Asia - Prof Chari gave us the freedom to tackle unorthodox projects while making sure they were grounded in the orthodox literature. He brought junior scholars and their work to the attention of newspaper editors and senior analysts, giving us a helping hand to the next level: of expertise, of advancement, of professionalism. In the process, he guided generations of scholars concerned with South Asia in the world and the world of nuclear politics. We were lucky to have his guidance and now we are lucky to remain part of the community he built at IPCS and beyond.”
Lydia R Walker, PhD Candidate, Department of History, Harvard University
“What do you say when a friend, a mentor and a guide, is suddenly no more! The loss is sudden, unexpected and deeply disconcerting. Leaving you suddenly bereft and rudderless. A void that you know will never be filled.
What will I miss most about PR Chari? The mid-morning coffee together, when he would regale you with the latest political gossip? Or, his sane advice on some issues to deal with India’s babudom? Or, his wisdom on issues of national interest in this troubling and conflict-prone world? Most of all perhaps I will miss his unhurried, graceful pace, quiet words and his cheerful smile. In nearly two and a half decades of fair intimacy, I never once saw him lose his cool.
An illustrious South Indian pedigree, he had a brilliant career in the IAS. He decided to leave this prematurely in 1992, to take up his other love, strategic studies. He took up a professorship in the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. Chandra and he would host such wonderfully warm gatherings at their Vasant Vihar residence. Their daughters Anusha and Divya were then beginning brilliant careers for themselves. I met him there occasionally and in the seminar circuit.
Some four years later, as I decided to retire prematurely, he suggested that we try something different together. Why not start a new independent think-tank? We knew India had talent, but needed to nurture it. Our area was national security, where we needed more than anywhere else, young alternate voices. That is how the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies was born, nineteen years ago. The Institute became his life since then. I left it for four and a half years on international assignments, but Chari remained with it throughout.
It has been roller-coaster years. Not much money, little resources, enormous hurdles, but never a lack of good cheer. Our seminars were joyful occasions, filled with young minds and new thoughts. From nothing and with financial resources sometimes one-fiftieth of comparable institutes in India or around the world, the IPCS was adjudged a leader in various categories by international rating agencies. But, what Chari enjoyed most was guiding young minds and nurturing them. We have seen over a hundred and more of them pass through our humble doors, making a difference around the world.
The IPCS was going through troubled times recently and was being restructured. Almost the last thing he heard before his transition was that this effort was successful and the Institute would have a long lease of life. This was even as he was destined not to be with us even for another day!
Change is the order of life and transition to the next is a part of it. But, the soul never dies. We know wherever he is, he will be looking over us. With his gentle smile and wry humour. Good-bye, my friend, may you find eternal peace.”
Major General Dipankar Banerjee, Co-Founder, IPCS
“At an anecdotal level, one of the first memories that I could recollect were the comments made by Prof Chari during my post marriage get-together hosted by the IPCS. Prof Chari, in his classic style, invoked Socrates in a smattering fashion, while coyly looking at Mrs Chari, and concluded that while marriage is a great institution and also an arduous task, “one shouldn’t shy away from accepting challenges.” The IPCS researchers were left amused, though pondering over the repercussions of his remarks, not only in their respective homes but also in Prof Chari’s!”
Dr R Radhakrishnan, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis International University, Telangana
“Prof PR Chari was one of those intellectuals who could not remain content in the bureaucracy even at high levels. He voluntarily left the IAS to engage in learning and teaching. Among the many think-tanks and academic institutions he embellished was the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, which has been universally acclaimed as one of the most important think-tanks in India. During my assignment to Washington, I had the opportunity to see him at work and witness the respect he commanded for his scholarship and friendship. I have known Prof Chari more through his writings than personally. But I served on a joint India-US Panel on Disarmament Issues, which reached the conclusion that India should be invited to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Prof Chari played a significant role in the deliberations of the Panel. I also benefitted from the many conversations with him at that time. Prof Chari was the first to author a comprehensive book on the India-US Nuclear Deal, which benefitted the specialists as well as the general readers. With his demise, the academic and strategic communities have suffered a grievous loss. May his soul rest in peace.
Ambassador TP Sreenivasan
“Mr Chari, or Ranga, was my brother-in-law, older by sixteen years. I met him for the first time in 1964 when I was thirteen years old and in class IX; he was twenty-nine and a sub-divisional magistrate in Katni, a small town to the south of Jabalpur. In those days IAS officers were expected to be very pukka, which meant interactions were very formal. So soon after Ranga decided to marry my sister, my father sent my brother and me to “call on him.”
Ranga wasn’t home when we got to Katni at about 4.30 PM. His manservant, an ex-Army cook called Thomas, brought us some seedcake. He also brought us tea in a silver service but forgot to tell us that the handle was very hot and we blistered our fingers. Ranga failed to arrive. We “took our leave” of Thomas, my brother leaving a note for Ranga, and drove back sixty miles, duty done.
I eventually met him two or three weeks later. I remember that day vividly because my father made me polish my shoes, which he had never done till then. The last time I saw him was on the evening of July 23, 2015. As usual, he was sitting at his computer and the expression on his face when he saw me was almost exactly the same as it had been that late October day in 1964 - a little quizzical, a little puzzled. I think it took him a few seconds to place me. I said hello and went on my way. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would see him alive.
In the intervening fifty-one years he made a difference to my life in ways that are hard to enumerate or perhaps even realise fully. To me, he was a great man who felt increasingly out of place in a country that seemed to have lost its moral bearings.”
TCA Srinivasa-Raghavan
“I was saddened to learn of the passing of Prof Chari. Ranga was a towering figure in the Indian strategic community - always an active, imaginative, and creative contributor. He was deeply respected as a voice of reason, particularly on nuclear matters affecting our two nations. All of us at Brookings appreciated his eagerness to cooperate with the Institution on several occasions, and I personally was impressed by the way in which he fostered a new generation of strategic thinkers.”
Strobe Talbott, President, Brookings Institution
“It was only last week there was a discussion at the IPCS where Ranga's scholarly and comprehensive paper on regional security situation in the Asia-Pacific in the context of South Korea's defence and security policies was analysed with great interest. I missed him very much as I was looking forward to meeting him that day after a long time. We were told that he was a little indisposed but would be working on this project with his characteristic intellectual vigour and enthusiasm. My participation in this project itself, I was sure, was also because of his suggestion as he and I always enjoyed working together on Korea-related issues. We had also worked together on other areas of the Asia-Pacific in which I had benefitted from his insight and deep understanding of the issues. A few months ago I had the privilege of reviewing the book he and Prof Vyjayanti Raghavan had authored.
Ranga was a warm and kind person, and a remarkable combination of an administrator and academic/scholar. I remember his days in the Ministry of Defence and subsequently his very able stewardship of IDSA. Later, he went on to build the IPCS as an excellent think-tank.
Ambassador Sudhir Devare
“Prof Chari observed his surroundings very keenly, and always seemed to know more than he let on.
At a workshop in Sri Lanka last year, all the participants were asked to write on a blank piece of paper their three expectations from the very intense 10-day proceedings. The notes were anonymous. My first two were academic in nature, the third was culinary - I was looking forward to an endless supply of fresh seafood, I wrote, given our proximity to the Indian ocean.
At lunch the following day, I was piling my plate shamefully high with all manner of crustaceans. Prof Chari, in his cream half-sleeved shirt, a pen tucked in his left breast pocket, was in the queue behind me. With the familiar glint in his eyes, and in his characteristic lilt, I heard him say: “I see you’re enjoying your seafood, Ruhee.”
Another time, when I was considering the UPSC as a career option, Prof Chari didn’t appear particularly enthusiastic about me gambolling in the hallowed halls of Indian bureaucracy, or convinced that I would find a life in government an attractive proposition. He even asked if I was under familial pressure, my father being a former civil servant - I assured him that I had come to this decision by myself.
Prof Chari emphasised independent thought, and apart from sharing his views when I sought advice, never once did he try to change my mind, despite thinking that I had buckled and let external circumstances choose my fate. Later, when better sense prevailed, I wrote to him, saying, “Although I have yet to change my mind about it being a worthwhile career, I have to admit I have grown a little disillusioned with a process directed primarily by rote learning.”
He knew all along.
I will miss him very much.”
Ruhee Neog, IPCS
“I first met Prof PR Chari when all of us were selected for the 1959 batch of the IAS convened at the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. Bused up half-way through our training, we were to be the last of the civil service trainees from Metcalfe House in Delhi and the first lot at the former Charleville Hotel converted into the ‘National Academy of Administration’ in the hill station.
I remember ‘Ranga’ - as Chari came to be known among us probationers - as a courteous and gentle young man, somewhat shy and soft-spoken but very affable and considerate to all. He was studious and analytical by nature and a good listener, and never pushed his viewpoints on anyone. I was to sense and realise later that he nurtured all the preceding qualities throughout his life.
Time and space intervened. He went off to Madhya Pradesh and I to Bihar. We lost touch - and then I went abroad, leading to greater distance and in memories of each other. Ten-fifteen years later, my family had a problem with a property we owned in the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh. I wrote to Ranga from California, anxious as to whether he would remember me. He not only attended to our problem with alacrity but also solved it quickly. Later, I had occasion to host him - and his lovely wife, Chandra - in Geneva. When I eventually re-located to Delhi, he invited me to join the IPCS, and we resumed our friendship and mutual affection as if nothing had happened in all the years of our separation.
I will miss Ranga despite all these long and short fifty-five years of knowing him as a wonderful person. I will also celebrate his life of achievement and a life well-lived in kindness to all.”
Onkar Marwah, IAS
At IPCS I have had many discussions with Mr PR Chari on multiple issues. His understanding of China and Chinese foreign policy was outstanding. He was a constant source of inspiration during my PhD. Each time I briefed him about a programme or a project; he would ask, “How is your research coming along?”
The most recent conversation I had with him was on July 2, 2015. He had called up the office for some work; I informed him that I was through with my PhD viva. He congratulated me and said, “So that means I will get chocolates when I come to IPCS next,” and then added, “Perhaps Dark Chocolates!”
Most recently, I was working with him on two projects. For the conference on “India and its Neighbourhood: An Audit of Conflict and Peace” he had already revised his paper and submitted the final draft much before time. As he sent his paper, he wrote, ‘Hope the others also kick in soon, so that SAGE can bring the book into the market by October-November when the library purchase season starts.”It was only earlier this month that the Korea Task force meeting was held, where other members had discussed the outline of their papers - Mr. Chari had already submitted a full paper with proper referencing. Soon after the meeting he wrote “Am still awaiting the comments on my paper for the South Korea project.” That was the last time I heard from him.
Thank you for all your guidance, Sir. I will miss you.
