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stint as the Prant Pracharak, we can find an amazing impression
of his working style and personality on the Sangh’s working
and way of life in Gujarat. His priority lay in the expansion of
the Sangh work on the strong foundation that existed in Gujarat.
He formulated successful strategies in order to rejuvenate the
Sangh’s life in Gujarat, to transform the traditional and old image
of the Sangh, to not allow the Sangh to function as a remote
island but to participate in social life, and such other goals. The
working style of Keshavrao Deshmukh was continuously
progressive. His life was active, his effort dynamic, his work
energetic, and his strategy lively. The life of Keshavrao
Deshmukh was dynamic, still more heroic was his death. It is
extremely heartrending to imagine the moment that an active,
inspiring personality receded into quiet peace just before your
eyes.

There are times in the life of man when self-contradictory
but wonderful instances take place which augment the intensity
of such instances several times over. In the case of Keshavrao
Deshmukh, the death had not come as normally it does, rather
it had rained down like a bolt from the blue. The evil thing
about the fate was that Keshavrao Deshmukh was about to
complete sixty years of his life on the Varsh-Pratipada. A
religious ritual was being organised in Kashi by his family
members to celebrate Shastipurti. It was the first family
celebration ever since Keshavrao had abandoned home in his
youth to become a Pracharak. The preparation for the celebration
was underway for the past one year. The Man. Balasaheb, the
Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, had
assented his presence in the programme. The priests in Kashi
too were enthusiastic about this specific religious opportunity.
A number of comrades from Gujarat, like me, had gone to Kashi
to attend the opening celebration. Only a few days were left,
and before the final day of the celebration, Keshavrao
Deshmukh gave up his mortal body. We can imagine how
intolerable the grief of his departure must have been when the
final moment of Shastipurti arrived.

Other instances too came up which produced such
unbearable sorrow. The birthdays of both Keshavrao Deshmukh