Gay prof was known as a literary genius

[Guest guest]

Gay prof was known as a literary genius

Vaibhav Ganjapure, TNN, Apr 9, 2010, 07.13am IST

NAGPUR: " I am shocked and deeply hurt by his death. He was a good associate and

was well-known in the literary circles. May his soul rest in peace,'' said Poet

Grace. Like him there are hundreds of fans of Prof Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras in

Nagpur deeply shaken by his sudden death.

Grace recalled Siras, a resident of Coffee House Square in Dharampeth, as

well-known in the literary circles for his poems. The deceased professor was in

the city and had just returned to Aligarh on Monday.

His friends and relatives, who wished not to be named due to controversy

surrounding him, Siras was born and brought up in Nagpur.

He had done his post-graduation in humanities from Hislop College before

completing his PhD on eminent Marathi author Gajanan Tryambak Madkholkar's

writings. His thesis was on 20 political novels of Madkholkar, perhaps only one

from the university to have done his doctorate in this subject, considered

difficult by many.

It took Siras 10 years to complete his PhD from 1976 to 1985, during which he

also pursued a master's degree in psychology. He had published a collection of

seminar papers in English on comparative literature and his PhD thesis. Before

joining AMU, he had worked as a research assistant in the Department of

Linguistics at Ranchi University.

The gay professor was considered a genius and a good critic of Marathi. His

biggest achievement was stated to be creating interest in Marathi at AMU, where

a majority of students were Muslims and from Hindi/Urdu background. He was

appointed reader in Modern Indian Languages in 1998.

In Nagpur, too, he had a huge fan following and had guided many students in

their research projects related to Marathi literature. His research work on BC

Mardekar's poems was highly appreciated.

Siras used to preside over most of the symposia on Mardekar's poems at

Dharampeth's Raja Ram Library. A poet himself, Siras got the Maharashtra Sahitya

Parishad award for his 2002 collection of poems --Paya Khalchi Hirawal (Grass

under my feet).

AMU vice-chancellor PK Abdul Aziz said he had contacted the deceased professor's

family in the city to make arrangements for airlifting the body.

http://www.ngogateway.org/sarathi

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

Re: /message/11339

Why should we refer to him as a 'Gay prof' ?!

Let's call him by the name he was given.

Thanks

Mendes

e-mail: <mmendes@...>