Dhruvaraj Venkatrao Mutalik Desai, veteran journalist, theatre personality, advocate and Seva Dal activist, died in Hubballi on Sunday. He was 92-years-old.
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Hailing from Koujalagi village in Belagavi district, he served Kannada, Marathi and English news papers in various capacities in Belagavi and Hubballi.
He served for long as a journalist for Samyukta Karnataka daily and Karmaveera magazine. In a career spanning six decades, he worked for Udayavani Kannada daily, Tarun Bharat Marathi daily, Navhind Times English daily, among others. He wrote comedy sketches for All India Radio Dharwad’s Kannada service.
He was a winner of prestigious awards like Press Club of Bengaluru rural reporting award, R. H. Kulkarni award for lifetime achievement, Kannada Sahitya Parishat Sirigannada award, Hubballi Dharwad city corporation’s Dheemanta award, Karnataka union of working journalist’s life time achievement award, Kodagu Lekhakara Sangha award, and Rotary Club and Lions Club awards.
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The State government selected him for T.S. Ramachandra Rao award in 2019. But the award ceremony did not take place due to COVID epidemic.
He was a Seva Dal volunteer in the 1940 s and 1950s. He was active in the Karnataka unification movement. He was a member of the organising committee of Kanaka – Purandara festival. He had acted in Kannada dramas like `Jooju’, `Hari Janivar’, and `Sundari’. He had also served as a teacher and advocate for a few years.