Gay prof was known as a literary genius

NAGPUR: "I am shocked and deeply hurt by his death. He was a good associate and was well-known in the literary circles. May his soul rest in peace,'' said Poet Grace. Like him there are hundreds of fans of Prof Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras in Nagpur deeply shaken by his sudden death.
Grace recalled Siras, a resident of Coffee House Square in Dharampeth, as well-known in the literary circles for his poems.The deceased professor was in the city and had just returned to Aligarh on Monday.
His friends and relatives, who wished not to be named due to controversy surrounding him, Siras was born and brought up in Nagpur. He had done his post-graduation in humanities from Hislop College before completing his PhD on eminent Marathi author Gajanan Tryambak Madkholkar's writings. His thesis was on 20 political novels of Madkholkar, perhaps only one from the university to have done his doctorate in this subject, considered difficult by many. It took Siras 10 years to complete his PhD from 1976 to 1985, during which he also pursued a master's degree in psychology. He had published a collection of seminar papers in English on comparative literature and his PhD thesis. Before joining AMU, he had worked as a research assistant in the Department of Linguistics at Ranchi University.
The gay professor was considered a genius and a good critic of Marathi. His biggest achievement was stated to be creating interest in Marathi at AMU, where a majority of students were Muslims and from Hindi/Urdu background. He was appointed reader in Modern Indian Languages in 1998.
In Nagpur, too, he had a huge fan following and had guided many students in their research projects related to Marathi literature. His research work on BC Mardekar's poems was highly appreciated. Siras used to preside over most of the symposia on Mardekar's poems at Dharampeth's Raja Ram Library. A poet himself, Siras got the Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad award for his 2002 collection of poems -- Paya Khalchi Hirawal (Grass under my feet).
AMU vice-chancellor PK Abdul Aziz said he had contacted the deceased professor's family in the city to make arrangements for airlifting the body.