"I first got to know Rahul about a decade ago when I was fresh out of my master’s and at my first LISSIM (a residential summer school for linguists studying syntax and semantics held in Himachal). It was there over several classes, late night discussions about linguistics, exploring the surrounding mountains, stargazing at the clear Himalayan skies and multiple rounds of snacks that Rahul went from being a linguist I knew to being a friend. And after that every edition of the summer school was as much about the courses as the fun things led by Rahul, including being woken up early in the morning for treks where he shared the hidden sights and beauties he had somehow had the time to discover between all his work in the Dravidian linguists group and being present to guide the rest of the language groups as well till late in the night.

To say that Rahul was good, kind and generous is true but saying that doesn’t capture the depth or numerosity of his gestures of support and love over the years. One particular incident right before the start of my PhD stands out to me: he took me to a gift shop, told me to help me him choose a gift for a friend, and soon after handed the gift over to me as something to remind me of home and the people rooting for me during the long phd journey. And he did root for me through out, being present at most of the linguistics events I was at with an exciting new talk, a new guise, a bag of gifts under his arm, words of wisdom and a promise to see me again soon.

I still can’t believe that you broke your last promise to me, dearest friend. I am going to miss you and I hope to keep seeing the world through your lens."

-- Sakshi Bhatia

"I first met Rahul at a conference in Trivandrum 6 years ago. Though reticent in a crowd, he opened up when four of us went to an ice-cream parlour one afternoon. The place had been selected by him - the avid foodie - and he enjoyed the desserts.

We kept in touch on and off over the years, and each time I found him to be intelligent, charming and fiercely private with an amazing sense of humour. When I got stuck with a technical point during my dissertation writing, I turned to him and he responded immediately. He wanted me to give a presentation at EFLU and each time we met, we spoke about it, but for one reason or the other it didn't happen. The last time I met him in Dec 2019, we decided I'd present my work after March. It was never to be.

I hope you are at peace now and I do hope you know you brought a lot of meaning and charm into all your interactions."

-- Samiksha

"I have known Rahul for over 15 years, from when we were both grad students. We had an early affiliation and camaraderie that was mainly rooted in the fact that we are two linguists of the same generation working on Dravidian languages (in the relatively small corner of South Asian linguistics that is still populated mostly with work on Indo-Aryan linguistics — but about 10-15 years ago, this was even more the case). He stayed with us multiple times and on multiple continents and we always had plans to meet in Hyderabad and work together.

He was a truly excellent linguist and was, I feel, doing some of his most creative work in his final years and also finally getting some of the recognition he richly deserved. He was also extremely humble and entirely too self-effacing about his own talents. The combination of humility with talent was both potent and rare.

I am devastated that he is gone and will miss his gentle presence and formidable talent as a fellow-Dravidianist for years to come."

-- Sandhya Sundaresan

"The last time I spoke to Rahul Sir was on July 1st. I missed my submission deadline and he being as generous as he was said, 'Dear Kousani, Take your time, it's not a problem. Wishing you all the best in writing a good paper!'

He used jokes as a part of short breaks in a long class, interacted with us more often rather than just teaching the topic, which helped me getting ideas for the subject. Though I got very little time with him, each time we met he asked me about my work which ended up in him giving insightful ideas. There's this one time during lockdown we had a one to one conversation regarding my term paper and all he said, 'What else are you doing apart from studying?', asked me about my favourite Haldiram's snacks and also asked suggestions what he should try next from Haldiram's.

I will miss these small conversations and his always welcoming nature. I wish I got more time with him."

-- Kousani Banerjee

"Rahul,
You were one of the constants of EFLU.
Be it seeing you almost any time of the day at Sagar, or just getting a glimpse of you whooshing past us in your bicycle in the evenings; seeing you do your thing, smiling as you did, always made someone's day.
In classes, as you waited patiently for your students to respond to you, you were always delighted that your questions made your students think and wonder so hard. You never once pointed out even if the answer we provided was wrong. You merely smiled and said "Ah, yes. Yes. I see. It could be that too..."
Your company was always a pleasure, a feeling of calm. You listened patiently and laughed with and at all of us students babbling away about something very irrelevant in class. You are among the best of people I have met. Your wit and intelligence has always made me look up to you.

The "Cool Dude" of EFLU...
We miss you a lot."

-- G Meenakshi

"IN MEMORIAM: RAHUL BALUSU

The NYU Linguistics Department was saddened to learn that one of our PhD alumni, Rahul Balusu, unexpectedly passed away last week in Hyderabad, India. Rahul was an assistant professor of computational linguistics at the English and Foreign Languages University. His dissertation at NYU was on the role of the obligatory contour principle in Telugu, while most of his subsequent work focused on the syntax and semantics of Telugu and other Dravidian languages.

A memorial website created by Diti Bhadra contains links to his research and to pictures of Rahul with friends and colleagues.

Some of the topics of Rahul’s publications are distributive reduplication; epistemic indefinites; free choice, positive polarity and negative polarity items; unconditionals; property concepts; light verbs; sluicing; wh-exclamatives; a quotative complementizer; and polar and alternative questions.

Rahul traveled frequently to present his work around the world, including Barcelona, Delhi, Seoul, Konstanz, and Paris, just to name a few. He was well-known for his expertise in Dravidian languages, his kindness toward younger scholars, and his generosity in helping his former colleagues at NYU when we reached out with requests like obtaining recordings of Indian English speakers or materials about the linguistic politics of India. We looked forward to his periodic swings through New York on his way to conferences in other parts of the United States.

Rahul was a quiet, warm, funny, and friendly person, and was much beloved by his students and colleagues at both NYU and EFLU. We mourn his passing and we send our condolences to his family and colleagues in India."

-- Tribute by the NYU Linguistics department (https://as.nyu.edu/linguistics/news/summer-2020/in-memoriam-rahul-balusu.html)

"Head-final agglutinating languages exhibit many intriguing similarities. From his grad student years up till a few months ago, discussions of Telugu vis-a-vis Hungarian with Rahul were exciting, insightful, and presented both of us with fruitful theoretical challenges. Rahul had a keen eye for data as well as theory. There were also opportunities for happy banter. I lost a precious friend."

-- Anna Szabolcsi

"The first time I sat in Rahul's class was in the final semester of my B.A. in EFLU, interestingly, for a course called 'Introduction to Linguistics'. After a couple of disappointing semesters, it definitely did feel like an introduction to the subject and renewed the passion towards it in most of us who pursued it in M.A. and further.

One of the topics he had covered in that course was Polarity Items and I was very excited to work in that area in my L1- Assamese. For the next 3 semesters I attended many of his Computational Linguistics courses but we also kept talking about Assamese NPIs here and there. Finally, in my 4th semester of M.A., when he learnt that I was interested in doing a dissertation, I received an email from him asking if it was on the same topic; if so, he was game. Just like that. I'll always, always be extremely grateful to him for taking me under his wing, and for the fact that he was the one who initiated me into research.

Rahul was immensely patient and extremely kind when it came to his students. There was one semester where I wasn't being able to attend his morning classes because of a bad state of mental health. One day, he ran into me outside our Publication Unit building, started walking with me, and very gently enquired why I wasn't coming to classes. When I told him what was happening, he just told me to show up for class even if I was an hour late. So that I did not end up having any attendance issues, which of course, was a big deal in the course. This was just one instance of his kindness. I'm sure many others will have similar stories to tell. And, I remember, when we agreed to work together for my dissertation, he asked me to drop the Sir and call him Rahul. I never could, but that's how he always treated his students: as his equals.

I knew Rahul for seven years. I had seen his transformation in terms of physical health just like many of my friends. We always intuited that he was going through something. But, I never could summon enough courage to walk up to him and just ask if he was doing well. And I'll never be able to forgive myself for it.

He has left all of us in shock and a lot of grief but there are many a stories he left each of us with too. I'll never get tired of telling people about him bringing us chocolates and souvenirs from all his trips to international conferences, of him coming and sitting next to me as I was lunching alone at a conference we had attended, of his witty emails, and of him sitting and working at a nearby cafe we would frequent. And about many other bright memories of him I'll hold close to my heart.

Rest in peace, Rahul. I'll forever miss seeing you in your office and instantly feeling calmer as I walk down that corridor again."

-- Sabbah Qamri

"Rahul Balusu was my beacon, a senior I looked up to and sought guidance from. I met him first as a TA for a course in the first semester of my MA, 18 years ago. Over the years he had become a lot more than a peer. Rahul was an extremely keen observer, who could make remarkably nuanced theoretical narratives based on tiny little functional particles that are littered throughout the South Asian languages. The clarity of thought in his papers and slides, was usually matched by his sharp wit and humor while presenting them at conferences, setting a benchmark for peers. With Rahul my personal world overlapped with the professional to a large extent and we shared some lovely adventures. Where he led, I followed. He decided to bid us adieu much before we were ready to. It was as easy to respect him in life, as difficult it is to respect this decision of his. Yet, I am determined to try to do so. I will always love and cherish you Rahul."

-- Paroma Sanyal