Dr Shankar Rao Tatwawadi, also known as Shankar Ji, hailed from Nagpur. Born in 1933, he was a swayamsevak since his childhood. A meritorious student throughout his educational career, he received his early education and obtained MSc. in Chemistry from the Nagpur University after which he went to Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for his Doctoral studies. Further, he went to the United States of America to study in University of Texas at Austin and University of Kansas in the mid-1960’s for his post-Doctoral studies.
Dr Shankar Rao Tatwawadi joined the Banaras Hindu University in the department of Pharmacy and served as Head of Department of Pharmacy till he took early retirement in 1992. He was associated with Sangh activities all through this time and held various responsibilities from Shakha level at Nagpur to Prant level at Banaras. He also served as shikshak in Sangh Shiksha Varg. He was instrumental in establishing Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) shakhas in the United States of America and was Vistarak there for some time. He also travelled to countries like the United Kingdom (UK) occasionally for programmes while continuing his Professorship at BHU. He was assigned as Pracharak for the UK in 1989 where he stayed till 2011. He became Vishwa Vibhag Samyojak in 1993 and travelled to more than 60 countries. Some of the major programmes that started in this period are Vishwa Sangh Shiksha Varg, Vishwa Sangh Shibir, Hindu Sangam at Milton Keynes UK, Hindu Marathon UK etc. The shakha work outside Bharat witnessed major expansion in all continents during this time. After 2011, Dr Shankar Rao Tatwawadi was associated with Vijnan Bharati as a Margadarshak. He travelled throughout Bharat guiding karyakartas and meeting prominent personalities in that field.
Known for his affable and down to earth nature, Dr Shankar Rao Tatwawadi kept contact with innumerable karyakartas and their families all around the world. It was astonishing how he could remember names of everyone in the family and would enquire about everybody. He had a very keen eye on details, be it travel details, Sanskrit words and its meaning, tune of the geet and chronology of programmes. Dr Shankar Rao Tatwawadi was well versed in Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures and was also a good singer. He was based at Dr Hedgewar Bhavan, Mahal Karyalay Nagpur since 2011 and any karyakarta visiting Nagpur would yearn to meet him. He was unwell for the last few months and had some difficulties in walking. He passed away on March 13 at Mahal Karyalay. As per his wish, his mortal remains were handed over to AIIMS Nagpur on the evening of March 13. Our heartfelt Shraddhanjali to the pious soul of Shri Shankar Rao ji and prayers that Shri Parmeshwar will bestow sadgati to
divangat Punyatma.
( Author is International coordinator Sewa International and Secretary General Antar Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad)
