E-Paper
Founder of Jai Hind School, Pune, Khilnani no more
Khilnani’s guidance had helped the school become one of the largest schools Pimpri.
Bhagwan F Khilnani,founded Jai Hind School in Pimpri in 1949 in a small shed. He served in the school for over 25 years and also went on to win the state award for the best teacher. His guidance helped the school become one of the largest schools in Pimpri.
A multifaceted personality, Khilnani passed away on May 8 due to illness at the age of 96.
He dedicated his life to the well-being of the school. However, when after he retired, he found time to pursue his hobbies of writing poetry, painting, singing, composing music, collecting stamps and drawing caricatures. He penned several books in Sindhi and English which contained poems and short stories. All of these were released by celebrities and industrialists with much fanfare.
He started learning Urdu at the age of 70. He when on to compile a book of Urdu ghazals called Dabi Chingariyan, which was released by thespian actor Dilip Kumar . He participated in an all-India caricature contest by Hindustan Times, and for his very first attempt - a caricature of Lata Mangeshkar - he bagged the second prize. He had compiled an album (pictures) of nearly 80 of his paintings and cartoons, which include caricatures of Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, Shahrukh Khan, to name a few. Many exhibitions of his paintings and his stamp collections have been held.
A Sai Baba devotee, he never missed his morning routine of going from Pimpri where he resides, to Shivajinagar by auto, to pay his respects at the famous Sai Baba temple.
