Keshav Waman Patwardhan, also known as Rayakaka Patwardhan, the founder of Prasanna Travels, passed away Monday. He was 91.
He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Patwardhan founded Prasanna Travels in 1964. He was also involved in the milk business for some time and worked as an employee of the Pune Municipal Corporation.
He was the president of Jilbya Maruti Ganesh Mandal for 20 years. He was also a kabaddi player and had been part of the Railway’s kabaddi team.
His younger son, Prasanna, expanded the travel business across the country by the name of Prasanna Purple.
He is currently serving as the president of Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India.
His elder son, Dr Bhushan, is the ex-vice chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) and was also an advisor to Ayush Ministry. Rayakaka encouraged his nephew Shriram Bhave to start a restaurant business, which is now a chain of restaurants by the name of Wadeshwar.