ITANAGAR, 27 May: Retired captain KK Venkatraman, who was a lifetime patron of the Lohit Youth Library movement since its inception in 2007, passed away in Chennai on the morning of 27 May, the Lohit Youth Library Network (LYLN) informed in a release.
“He was 76, and was living a frugal but active life all alone. He was cremated this (Monday) evening with full military honours,” the release stated.
Venkatraman was a former secretary of the VKVs in Arunachal in the 1980s and the early 1990s, and was responsible for introducing military band training for both boys and girls in the VKVs.
“His completing the circumambulation of R Narmada in a record time of 131 days in 1987 led him to record his travelogue, Walking with the Immortals(2015) – a book which won him several admirers from all walks of life,” the release said.
“His life in Chennai since the 1990s became memorable as the local guardian of as many as 23 Arunachali girl students studying at the Kalakshetra Foundation & the Sarada Vidyalaya, Chennai, winning respect from all parents,” it said.
“From the inception of the youth library movement in Arunachal, he was a strong patron and did everything possible for its advancement, including contributing all the sales proceeds of his book for youth library activities,” the release added.
“A man of meticulous habits and discipline, his untimely demise is a terrible loss for Aruanchal and the youth library movement, and for all those who knew him,” LYLN coordinator S Mundayoor said.
