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| Remembrance |
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Shri B.G. Deshmukh, throughout his sojourn with the Museum was always concerned
about the progress of the Institution and its future expansion. Despite his extremely
busy schedule, he continued to take interest in the day-to-day administration and
modernization of the Museum. He was a great admirer of Indian traditional art
forms and performing arts. Under his dynamic and indefatigable leadership, the
Museum continued to establish its own strong identity as a visitor friendly Museum
in the country and outside.
Shri Deshmukh’s association with the Museum as a close friend and
well wishe stretches for over three decades. He joined the Board of Trustees on
October 12, 1998 and became the Chairman of the Board in which position he
continued till his death on August 7, 2011.
His valuable services and guidance for growth and development of the Museum
are highly appreciated by the Board of Trustees and the entire staff of the Museum.
With his initiative and personal contribution, a separate fund was created for staff
welfare.
Shri Deshmukh was an M.A. in Economics (born on March 26, 1929) and was
a distinguished career officer ever since he joined the Indian Administrative Services
in 1951. He had held several important assignments in various Government bodies
and rose to the highest position of Cabinet Secretary. After his retirement from
Government services, he completely dedicated himself to various social, cultural
and educational causes and was particularly interested in upliftment of the weaker
section. Besides these, he was a great humanist, a true nationalist and a great
visionary.
The death of Shri Deshmukh, Chairman, Board of Trustees, CSMVS, on Sunday
the August 7, 2011 at Noble Hospital, Pune is a huge loss to the city of Mumbai in
particular and the whole country in general.
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I was indeed grieved to learn about the demise of Shri B.G. Deshmukh, former Cabinet Secretary, who was so very genuinely interested in culture. I have met him on a few occasions in the last three years and I know how passionately he loved the
CSMVS and other projects relating to heritage. He spoke to me on a few occasions about some proposals that he considered worthy, like propagating heritage journals, and we really regret that I could not show him the scheme that we have
now almost finalised on his advice. |
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The sad demise of B.G. (as he was lovingly called by many), a fellow colleague of over two decades as Trustee and later President of the Asiatic Society and the Museum, is a big personal loss to me and an irreparable loss to many social and
cultural institutes. He was a true gentleman and an able administrator. As a disciplined IAS officer he served the Nation in different capacities and after his retirement in 1990, he again continued his good work with renewed energy as Trustee or Chairman on the Boards of some prestigious social, educational, financial, health and cultural organizations. It is also a fact that during his life
time he transformed many organizations from their earlier positions and gave them new direction and lease of life. Shri Deshmukh should always be remembered for his contributions to good governance and upliftment of urban and rural
poor. His concern for the Museum staff is amply evident from his wholehearted contribution to Staff Welfare Fund with which the Museum celebrates its birth anniversary every year. I will be really missing him very much.
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My first interaction with Mr. Deshmukh was in 2001 when he was the President of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai and I was a new member of its Managing Committee. I was of course overawed by the sheer personality of the man. He was the epitome of old world courtesy but also had a razor sharp intellect and an excellent command over the language-English and Marathi among others. He
had the gift of being able to get the best out of people who worked with him. He always insisted that it was never ‘working for him’, I know that well because I was one of them. After the Asiatic, the Museum and then BNHS, in all these he would ask me if I would like to help, my reply was Saheb for you of course.
I shall miss his calm but firm manner of handling difficult situations and persons.
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As a guardian CEO of the Tata Council for Community Initiatives for the Western Region, I had the honour of knowing and working with Shri Deshmukh who was then the Chairman, at a Group level, of the Council. Later, as a Trustee, I was
fortunate again to work with him for CSVMS. His genial temperament, clarity of thought, focused approach, wide contacts built over a long innings, and genuine concern for people enabled him to guide organisations in a manner which would
be extremely difficult to emulate. Above all, he will always be remembered for his humility and integrity. Some voids cannot be filled. His absence now is one such void. |
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Mr. B.G. Deshmukh, who passed away in early August was a person of many facets. Everyone knew him as an astute administrator but few knew him as a keen environmentalist and a lover of books and heritage. His heart went out to the
underprivileged and he made efforts to bring succour to them. At all meetings, he brought that special ‘Deshmukh’ touch; listening to everyone’s views very carefully. He believed in consensus and the meetings were conducted without tension in an atmosphere of cordiality. He had an exclusive knack of dealing
with staff. His sympathy lay with them and their problems gained top priority. He gave the Museum a munificent donation to hold a staff annual programme and participated actively till the end. He became the President of the Asiatic Society during the crucial period and streamlined its operations. It was entirely because of his efforts, Society received grants from State and Central Government.
Men like BG are born once in a long while and leave their indelible impression on whatever they touch. It would be difficult to reconcile his absence from our midst
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Mr. B. G. Deshmukh lent his name and stature to many public causes.
When I approached him to be the Chairman of the OVAL Trust,...a fledgling venture to protect and green open spaces in the city....he readily agreed, as he knew the importance of these objectives.
As Chairman of the Museum and of the OVAL Trust, he was ever approachable and gave freely of his advice and experience. Under his watch, the Museum has grown from strength to strength to be a world class Museum and the OVAL Trust restored two most valuable open spaces for the public in South Mumbai.
We will miss him.
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