U.S. Srinivasan, better known to a generation of book lovers in Bengaluru as PuVyaSri (Pustaka Vyapari Srinivasan or "bookseller Srinivasan"), passed away late on Monday night.
The 88-year-old passed away in his sleep, said sources in All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), of which he was a member. He has donated his body for medical research.
An itinerant bookseller who carried books to people's homes and workplaces to sell them, he always said that book selling was never a business but a transaction with friends for him. He travelled the length and breadth of the city either on foot or in public transport to deliver books.
M.D. Harigovind, Secretary, AITUC, recalled that he and his late elder brother Venkataraman were long-standing members of the union and great book lovers. "PuVyaSri inspired a whole generation to read and debate books. He not just sold books but read out portions of them to persuade people to buy and read them," he recalled.