The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Bobjee always willing to help sports lovers

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Sunday, Aug 03, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Bobjee always willing to help sports lovers

A Joseph Antony

HYDERABAD: The world of sports has lost a true friend in the demise of Bobjee, aka Chalasani Ravindra Prasad on Friday. A member of the VST Corporate Communications team along with the late M.L. Jaisimha, he was actively involved in making the Charminar Challenge series a household name through its pioneering effort in sports sponsorship.

With a willing and helping hand, he had supported cricket and other lesser sports, right from the club to the national level. His organisational skills were much in evidence when the Australian team led by Allan Border was taken for a photoshoot in front of Charminar. That he could pull it off without incident in a cricket crazy city and country spoke eloquently of his skills in crowd and event management.

As forthright as his booming voice, he’d made myriads of friends in the media on his travels around the country for cricket. Known for his wisecracks, the fathers were invariably Hitlers, the women were dames, the wife was the husband and vice-versa, while he chose to call himself Colorado Ravindra Prasad.

Thousands of friends and well-wishers gathered at his Marredpalli residence on Saturday to pay their last respects, where he was brought from hospital following fortnight-long treatment for a paralytic stroke, from which he never recovered. He is survived by his aged mother, his brother Dr. Ram Mohan, wife, son, daughters and grand children. Paul Benjamin, president, Andhra Pradesh Sports Journalists Association, condoled the passing of Bobjee, saying his friendship with the fraternity had endured for over two decades.

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