Brother Satyam, German Alvarez, aged 57, passed away today from severe head injuries caused when a motorcycle hit him at high speed while he was walking across the street in front of his office six days before; he had been in a coma since then. A trained electrical engineer, he worked for various government offices. He was initiated in 1979, a few months after Baba's visit to Venezuela, and was one of the senior-most active Margiis in Venezuela. He had a great passion for ecology and sustainable agriculture. He has a son, Pradiip, who is finishing his undergraduate studies at Florida State University, and a daughter, Satya, aged four, shown in the photo.

Ac. Pranavananda Avadhuta dedicated his life as a wholetimer in 1962, when he was still in his teens, and was initiated by Baba as an avadhuta on January 1, 1963. He succumbed to kidney failure and heart disease. From Kulu in Himachal Pradesh, he was taken to PGI, Chandigarh - a very famous hospital of north India -last evening. His condition was not that good when he was admitted. The end came at 12 noon. He was 67. He will be cremated at Kulu tomorrow by 9.00 am.

Pranavanandajii's contribution to Ananda Marga organization cannot be forgotten. He was Office Secretary for 18 years during Baba's times. (Once Baba said about him that he had immense potentiality). How true it was!. He worked day and night. It is difficult to find another hard working Karmii of Pranavanandajii's stature. Basically he was a Ksattriya, but was also intellectually developed. During his office secretaryship (since 1968), Baba built the organizational systems and executed them. As office secretary, every WT from training centre would go to him for final training before posting. So every worker was known to him, personally. In office, he was the dominating figure.

When Tiljala camp HQs were built, Pranavanadnajii was there. He was also responsible for Madhu Korak (Tiljala MG quarters) and didi's building. In late eightees he was posted in Ananda Nagar, where he left his mark as Karmii. Construction of Rotunda, Power House, Electrification of Ananda Nagar and various land problems in Anandanagar were solved by him.

He had very good knowledge of philosophy and had good command of four languages including their script. His memory was very strong. For a short time he was also PA to Baba.

Ac. Bhaskarananda Avadhuta, Ac. Venkateshvarananda Avadhuta and Ac. Artasevananda Avadhuta were his Diiksa bhratas (the last two were killed by CPM goons at Bijon Setu on 30th April 1982.) Before he was posted as Central Office Secretary, he was working in Kerala. Ac. Acyutananda Avadhuta also worked under him as LFT, before becoming WT.

We are sure that Baba has taken his dear son in His lap.

Ac. Kalyaneshvarananda Avadhuta
(with inputs from Ac. Bhaskarananda Avadhuta and Sarvatmananda Avadhuta)
.....

Dearest and respected all,
Namaskar.
I echo the feelings of respected sister Ambika and condole passing away of our dear and respected brother Pranavanandaji.
I know him well before he became the Office Secretary of Baba in which capacity he always pleased Him by exemplary performance and obedience.
There were occasions when I had the opportunity to work with Him very closely. I always found him dynamic , creative , consistent and bold. His love for Baba and His mission , his commitment to Him was never lost sight of and he remained active till his last breath.
He was a great asset of the organisation and mission and his sterling qualities will always inspire us.
May he always play in the sweet, loving and benign lap of Baba.
With deepest regards and affection to him,
In Him,
Santosananda
.....
There was a time at Tiljala, maybe in the early 90's, when a
volleyball game would be organized every afternoon. It was mostly the
volunteers and LFT's who played, but occasionally younger WT's would join in
as well. One afternoon I was surprised to hear wild shouting and cheering
coming from the volleyball field, where the game was usually fairly sedate.
I looked out my window. I saw that Dádá Pran'avánanda was playing for the
first time, and I could understand that he had rallied his team into an
unprecedented fervour for victory, and that the other team was trying to
respond in kind. Dádá Pran'avánanda was incapable of doing anything without
enthusiasm. I have never met a person to whom the word "spirited" better
applied.

In Him, Dada Acyutananda