Page 101 - A Life Well-Lived Is a Beautiful Memory

explaining the number of votes for Bongbong Marcos in the election. He asked me if I had seen
this regression reported in the newspapers. He was aghast at something masquerading as being

scientifically sound and expressed his incredulity at the regression R square of 1!
Bhanu and I were always interested in the politics in both of our countries because we
understood that poor governance, weak institutions, and corruption lead to poor economic
outcomes, regardless of how brilliant the economists in a country are. But there was a very
important reason for Bhanu’s particular interest in the Philippines: his wife, Divina, is a Filipina

from Davao (Duterte country, but thankfully, Divina is an enlightened person). According to
Bhanu, Divina was an active Leni Robredo supporter in Thailand during the 2022 presidential
election. He told me that she was also collecting books, articles, and materials on the country’s

experience under martial law to help guard against historical revisionism.
I used to always wonder why Bhanu seemed to know many Filipino words and phrases.
He would always greet me with “Kamusta ka?” (How are you?) when we would meet at AEP
meetings. This went on for many years without him letting on that he was married to a Filipina.
One day, he finally told me. Of course, I was curious and asked about how he and Divina met and

ended up together. It turns out that he met Divina when they were both trainees at a 2-week rice
production technology workshop at IRRI, the International Rice Research Institute. Bhanu thought
that the rice production training was a necessary background to the subsequent 6-week workshop

on the consequences of farm mechanization, a workshop that Divina did not join because it was
meant for those with a background in economics. He was in love with Divina at first sight, and
the rest is history. His training mates used to tease that “Divina” was the consequence of farm
mechanization!
I finally met Divina on a trip to Bangkok about a decade ago when I had dinner with them.

He subsequently told me about the time Divina suffered a stroke while she was teaching a class,
which made physical mobility challenging for her. From then on, Bhanu made a special effort to
assist Divina, both at home (taking care of procuring their daily meals, for example), and outside

of it. When she had to go on trips abroad, he would take her to the airport and meet her there when
she returned. He would always worry about her when he was away attending AEP meetings and
told me that it was in large part because he was abroad when she suffered a stroke. This is why
he would also always try to return to Bangkok as soon as the AEP meeting was over, often taking
a very late-night flight or a very early morning one. He told me what Divina was up to--whether

it was teaching, working with an international NGO, writing a children’s book, etc. He was truly
devoted to Divina, and it was clear that the two of them loved each other deeply.
We would also always share news about our children—my two sons and his only son. He

used to lament the fact that although they lived under the same roof, his son’s work schedule
was the opposite of his day and night schedule and so they would hardly see each other. I was
happy to hear that his son did marry and that Bhanu and Divina have a grandchild who Bhanu
saw before he passed.

Bhanupong Nidhiprabha 101