‘Padgaonkar was mentor, guide and friend to one and all’

PUNE: He lived a life of the mind as well as the senses, was probably the most apt tribute paid to former editor of The Times of India Dileep Padgaonkar.
On Saturday, people from diverse walks of life bid adieu to Padgaonkar, many of whom fondly remembered him as ‘a scholar with eclectic tastes’. Earlier in the day, his body was kept at his residence on Agriculture College road to enable people to pay their last respects.
Former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar offered floral tribute to Padgaonkar at his residence. Industrialists Arun Firodia, Atul Kirloskar, veteran journalist Kumar Ketkar, Air Marshal (retd) Bhushan Gokhale, film historian Suresh Chabria and senior actor Mohan Agashe were among the many who gathered at Vaikunth crematorium where the last rites were performed in the afternoon.
Family members, relatives, friends and associates shared their cherished memories and tributes flowed, tinged with sadness.
Padgaonkar’s nephew Sudhir Kanvinde said Padgaonkar came from a humble background. “He was an astute thinker, analyst, liberal, and level headed man. Just like his background, he remained humble, helpful and kind. He had a passion for art, music and was a foodie and would often relish the local cuisines. His favourite being the coastal food, true to his origin,” Kanvinde said.
Kanvinde said that despite seeing the world and hobnobbing with the powerful, he was just like a common man full of life and humour. “To his relatives and friends, he was just Dileep. The enormity of his status and popularity is yet to sink in. The twitter and social media are a testimony to this fact that he was a well-respected journalist. He lived a life he wanted to live and was a mentor, guide and friend to one and all. He leaves behind a huge void for his friends, relatives and family,” he added.
“My first memory of Padgaonkar was reading his name every day in The Times of India newspaper almost 25 years back and that was most inspiring. Dileep Mama was the most hilarious mimic and a hardcore foodie I have ever known. Just being with him was like seeing the entire world,” recalled his nephew Aditya Talavlikar.
Reminiscing about his association with Padgaonkar, Ketkar pointed out that above anything else Padgaonkar was a man with multifarious and eclectic tastes. “Be it national or international cuisine, Hindustani or western classical music, cinema or any form of art or literature, he knew and had critical appreciation of all of them. He was truly a global citizen.”
“I once asked him what would he do if he had not become the editor of The Times of India. To which he instantly replied that he would have been an editor of an international magazine on cuisine. He once treated me to crocodile soup and took me to relish various dishes of international cuisine during my stay with him in France and other countries,” Ketkar said.
Firodia, chairman of the Kinetic group, remembered Padgaonkar as a scholar who was a treasure trove of knowledge on various subjects. “His untimely death is a big loss to not only Pune but entire country,” he said.
Senior actor Madhav Vaze recalled the formative years at Fergusson College when Padgaonkar was junior to him. “He was the only student whose father would regularly visit the college’s professors and request them to pay attention to Dileep’s studies and also request us to oversee his studies and academic activities at the college. Dileep was very studious and excelled in academics,” he said.