Thanks so much for this great tribute. Inspiring.

On Thu, Mar 5, 2015 at 8:32 AM, Andrew Lih <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote:

> Condolences to the community. I let the Signpost folks know, and there will
> be a writeup on this coming shortly.
>
> -Andrew
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 5, 2015 at 11:05 AM, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Viswa,
> >
> > Thank you so much for letting us know of this editor's inspiring story.
> We
> > are sorry to lose such an exemplary Wikimedian. I hope in his passing he
> > had the satisfaction of feeling that in his late years he made the world
> a
> > better place.
> >
> > Please contact me off-list if you would like this email to appear in the
> > Signpost.
> >
> > Condolances to his family and the Malayalam Wikimedia community.
> >
> > Pine
> > On Mar 5, 2015 7:08 AM, "ViswaPrabha (വിശ്വപ്രഭ)" <vp2...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Wikimedians all over the world,
> > >
> > > One of our stalwarts at ml Wikimedia community, Wikiuser:BabuG
> > > <https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Babug> (
> > > https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Babug)  expired yesterday night.
> > >
> > > Despite having paralyzed due to a severe stroke and severely affected
> by
> > > several subsequent health problems, he was guided to Wikipedia by his
> > son,
> > > Dr. Ajay, another prominent Malayalam Wikipedian, as a possible remedy
> to
> > > escape perpetual loneliness.
> > >
> > > His real world name was G. Balachandran.He was born on 14th October
> 1938
> > in
> > > a small village off North Parur, Ernakulam District, Kerala, the
> > > Southernmost state of India.He  joined the Armed Forces Engineering
> > College
> > > and then continued to serve the Indian Armed forces for long many
> years.
> > >
> > > He started contributing to Wikimedia, particularly to Malayalam
> > Wikipedia,
> > > in the year 2008.
> > >
> > > His initial contributions to Malayalam Wikipedia were based upon a
> > > pulp-converted digital Encyclopedia, released by the Government through
> > > GFDL licence then.  He continued to create even more full-featured
> > articles
> > > on his own, later. By 2014 October 18 - the day he edited last in
> > > Wikipedia- he had 1935 full-blown articles initiated and expanded by
> > > himself in ml.wikipedia.org. Besides, he also contributed more than
> 350
> > > images to Wikimedia commons and a handsome  amount of contributions to
> > > Wikisource, Wikidata and Wiktionary.
> > >
> > > He always attributed his renewed energy and life's aspirations to the
> > > Wikimedia mission, for having returned to a meaningful life after a
> > 20-year
> > > long and frustrating solitude while constrained to an immobile chair.
> > Ever
> > > since 2008, he stood up and started walking and moving around. His was
> an
> > > extreme example for us in Malayalam WP to showcase how Wikipedia can
> > change
> > > lives.
> > >
> > > In almost all our Wikipedia Outreach sessions, we utilized this great
> > > example to motivate and excite the newcomers to WP.
> > >
> > > Tory Read mentioned about BabuG thus, in a document
> > > <http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/india-chronicles.pdf>, a
> > review
> > > on the state of Indian Wikimedia Communities, in 2011:
> > >
> > > G. Balachandran, a septuagenarian who lives outside of Ernakulum in
> > Kerala
> > > > state, said that working on Malayalam Wikipedia helped him recover
> > after
> > > a
> > > > stroke left him paralyzed. “He’s much sharper now,” said his wife
> > > Jagadamma
> > > > K. “He’s made a lot of new friends, and that’s been good for his
> > health.”
> > >
> > >
> > > For us in Malayalam Wikipedia, today is a black day, for having lost a
> > > great beacon on our voyage to ultimate openness and freedom in
> knowledge
> > > and wisdom.
> > >
> > >
> > > Yet, we feel, BabuG has made his life stamped immortal for ever and has
> > > shown us the pathway we should follow in continuing our humble
> > > contributions to the ultimate cause of mankind.
> > >
> > >
> > > -ViswaPrabha
> > > (On behalf of Malayalam Wikimedia Community)
> > > http://ml.wikipedia.org
> > > _______________________________________________
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