As a child if there was one person whom I remember always was at the forefront of offering his time and assistance whenever we needed it, then I have no hesitation that the name of Shashank Raghuveer Karnik , our Shashank DADA would be very near to the top of the list of such people. Here was one person who in spite of not being very affluent in the material sense did everything he could within his means to find an answer or a solution to any problem that our family was confronted. In life money not always can solve all issues and Shashank dada was a living testimony to this thought.
My earliest memories of Shashank dada went back to the days when I must have been about 6-7 years old. He was employed with Air India as a security officer and it will not be an exaggeration to state that his life was nothing less than a roller coaster ride with plenty of ups and downs. Many of his detractors blamed him for his situation or more precisely his very frank and impractical manner of speaking his mind without considering his situation. But in my opinion his other good qualities far outweighed his shortcomings that he had and were I believe part of his nature. There were two sides to his personality in this sense, on one side he came across as a very hot tempered person and on the other a person who had a heart of Gold. Those people who were fortunate to know his other side will vouch any day that they were privileged to have him as their friend and ally.
One quality that stood out about his was his deep network of friends and business contacts related to his field that he always tapped into in order to assist others.
He never required an invitation to our house. The doors of the pradhan family’s house were always open for him. Very often he would just drop in taking time out of his schedule just to see how baba was going and saying hello to his Mai maushi , my mother.
I still remember the joyrides I used to have on his lambda scooter at vile parle where he lived for major part of his life. Whenever he used to visit our house the respect and affection he showed for baba and Aai clearly was clearly visible.
The strength of his character was very clearly exemplified in the manner and dignity with which he embraced the hard truth of his disease. Sitting on his hospital bed he never stopped cracking jokes and entertaining the nurses attending him so much so that the staff at the Tata memorial hospital often remarked “we never have had such a patient in our hospital who is so jolly and cheerful “although he knows deep within that the chances of his life were at tenterhooks considering that his cancer operation was a risky proposition on account his blood pressure.
Just like baba he too was a chain smoker, a habit which ultimately cut short his time in this mortal world. His untimely demise I am sure must have been a huge shock to Nalini vahini his wife and his son Tanmay and daughter Pranjali besides all his friends and extended family.
You are sorely missed Shashank DADA!!