Noted businessman Thonse Mohandas M Pai, the head of Kannada daily Udayavani and eldest son of Manipal founder TMA Pai, passed away on Sunday, July 31. The 89-year-old was admitted to the Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, near Udupi, where he succumbed. T Mohandas M Pai was the president of the Dr TMA Pai Foundation and also headed the Manipal Media Network, under which Udayavani is published.
Mohandas Pai, who was born in 1933, was an alumnus of MGM College in Udupi and later became a law graduate. He then returned to Manipal, the university town which his father Dr TMA Pai founded. Here, he took over the Manipal Power Press, which he modernised by reportedly introducing automatic typesetting and printing in the early 1960s. Later, in 1970, he was part of the team that founded Udayavani and served as its Managing Director. He also began the publication of the popular Kannada magazine Taranga under Udayavani, and was credited with constantly modernising the printing press by bringing special machines to print and bind coloured pages.
Mohandas Pai was considered a patron of arts and culture, and was involved in the setting up of several cultural institutions in Manipal including the Rashtrakavi Govindapai Research Centre, Regional Resources Centre for Folk Performing Arts and MGM Yakshagana Kendra. Further, he teamed up with architect Vijayanath Shenoy to create the Hasta Shilpa Heritage Museum in Manipal, which displays and conserves traditional houses from across locations.
The mortal remains of Mohandas Pai will be kept at MGM, his alma mater, at 9 am on Monday, August 1.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy condoled Mohandas Pai’s death. Taking to Twitter, he said, “The death of the eldest Pai family member and founder of noted Kannada paper Udayavani, Mohandas Pai, is extremely sad. An excellent administrator, he raised the prestige of the Pai family and provided employment to thousands of people.”
ಮಣಿಪಾಲದ ಪೈ ಪರಿವಾರದ ಹಿರಿಯರು, ನಾಡಿನ ಹೆಸರಾಂತ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆ 'ಉದಯವಾಣಿ' ಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪಕರು ಆಗಿದ್ದ ಶ್ರೀ ಟಿ. ಮೋಹನದಾಸ್ ಪೈ ಅವರ ನಿಧನ ಬಹಳ ದುಃಖವನ್ನುಂಟು ಮಾಡಿದೆ.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) July 31, 2022
ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಆಡಳಿತಗಾರರಾಗಿದ್ದ ಅವರು, ಪೈ ಪರಿವಾರದ ಕೀರ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ದಿಗಂತಕ್ಕೇರಿಸಿ ಅಸಂಖ್ಯಾತ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಉದ್ಯೋಗದಾತರಾಗಿದ್ದರು.1/2 pic.twitter.com/4UkUkbNVUF