I knew Chandra originally as a graduate student at Princeton where I worked with her as she completed an imaginative and innovative dissertation. I always thought of Chandra as young, emergent, dedicated, energetic, warm, and compassionate, a true and genuine champion of human rights. We only met briefly in recent years, and I always believed that soon she would be deservedly globally recognized as a distinguished scholar of human rights and a person who could lead and organize likeminded others.
In fact, a couple of years ago, our last real contact, I brought stress and distress into Chrandra’s life, of course, unintentionally. She had invited me to do a lecture at the University of East London, I agreed, but higher powers intervened and the lecture was cancelled due to exaggerated administrative fears of disruption. We were both disappointed, and Chandra remained determined to make it happen, and it is my sadness that because of logistical problems, mainly on my side, it never did. No one anticipated this untimely early death, and had I done so, I would made these problems disappear overnight.
We are right to grieve the loss of anyone with a warm heart, clear head, and compassionate spirit. Chandra was such a person. I grieve her death with sadness while remembering the joy and meaning that she brought to life.
Richard Falk