Dr Mangesh V Nadkarni (1933-2007) was my dearest Mhantu who inspired me like many others from within. He was born in Bankikodla, a little village in coastal Karnataka, which is the most picturesque part of the west coast where the Sahyadri Mountains hug the Arabian Sea. Literature, folk art, spiritual lore, music and sports kept him enthralled during his school days. 

His teachers in secondary school gave impetus to his imagination and taught him to perceive the sheer excitement of ideas, leading him to the path of his inner quest. Dr Nadkarni had a brilliant academic career and completed his Post-graduation in English Literature from Rajaram College, Kolhapur, and began his teaching career in Rajkot. Later, he moved to Anand where he was Professor of English in Nalini Arts College. During his college career, he was a student of Professor V K Gokak, an outstanding man of letters, an educationist and a great teacher of literature who influenced Dr Nadkarni towards Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy.  

Dr Nadkarni did his PhD in Phonetics from California, USA, and was Professor of Linguistics at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad. He later taught at the National University of Singapore. 

The influence of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy on him was gradual and he found it intellectually most liberating and satisfying. He was a Yogi on the path of continuous progress, and a renowned exponent of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He lectured extensively in India and abroad on Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy and vision. 

Dr Nadkarni was a master of the English language and spoke brilliantly on Savitri, a 24,000-verse epic poem by Sri Aurobindo. The poem recounts the saga of human victory over ignorance and the conquest of death. Reading Savitri is itself considered a practice of integral yoga and a potent vehicle of aspiration. Dr Nadkarni inculcated Savitri as a mantra in his life. 

Had it not been destiny’s cruel blow which snatched away our beloved uncle from our midst, we were planning to celebrate, on a grand scale, the completion of 75 years on his birthday on 6 March 2008. But, fate willed otherwise, leaving me to write this article in his remembrance. 

He will be remembered for his vast knowledge, eloquence, sense of humour, melodious voice, smiling face and a magnetic, lovable personality. He was the personification of Sweetness and Light and carried an aura of Ananda with him. The soul incubates in the body as the bird in the egg; cracking the shell, the bird waddles away. Lament for the shell or rejoice for the baby bird? My prayers to the Divine Mother to take his soul in Her arms to its heavenly abode.