V Gangadhar, journalist-satirist, passes away

V Gangadhar, veteran journalist and well-known satirist, passed away in Pune on Monday night. He was 85.

An esteemed columnist with Rediff.com who wrote on varied topics from Movies to Politics to Cricket, Gangadhar was loved for his geniality and wit, which he spread in abundance.

A former editor with the Readers' Digest in India, Gangadhar spent the latter half of his life writing satire columns for several newspapers and also taught journalism in many colleges. 

For many years he wrote spoofs as front page news on April 1 of The Daily that would flummox readers with their verismilitude.

Gangadhar would tell his students how he would write 1,000 words of humour each day.  

One of this students recalled, “Though he was freelancing as a journalist most of his life, he often advised his students, "Freelancing can be your jam but never your bread and butter. If you want to be a journalist, get a proper job." 

He often quipped about Stalinist Soviet Union. One of his many jokes was, "In America you watch television. In Soviet Union television watches you."  

WATCH below: V Gangadhar makes a prediction. Video: Krishna Prasad.

Apart from his sense of humour Gangadhar was well versed in English as well as American literature. He was the epitome of good English and its correct usage while writing, as well as a fierce critic of the lowering standards of journalism as early as the 1990s. 

He leaves behind his wife, Rupa, and two daughters. And of course, many many readers who remember his writings with a chuckle.

Click here to read Mr V Gangadhar’s articles on Rediff.com.