Robbins Burling is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Michigan, USA. He first worked among the Garos in India in the 1950's, when he gathered materials for his dissertation, and since 1984 he has been a regular visitor to Bangladesh. Here, he has studied both the language and the culture of the Garo people of Modhupur. Professor Burling is the author of several books on both anthropological and linguistic topics.