Mr. Jagdish V. Shukla, former racing correspondent of Indian Express popularly known to the racing world as "Ashwamitra", succumbed to a long drawn battle with cancer. He was 82 and is survived by his three daughters and three sons.

Shuklaji started his career as a racing correspondent with the Indian Express newspaper way back in the early seventies. Prior to that, he was instrumental in bringing out a racing tabloid called "Winning Post". Shuklaji was closely associated with personalities such as Ram Manohar Lohia, Ashok Mehta and Jayprakash Narayan since he came with the Trade Union background.

Mr. Shukla

He was instrumental in the creation of the Western India racing Journalists' Association (WIRJA) along with respected journalists like Cecil Hendricks (Pegasus) and Surendra Dikshit (Shyamakarma). He served as the treasurer of the association until his last days. Money Spinner, a popular race book was also his creation which incorporated, for the first time, photographs of horses of the previous week's races. He later published another race card called the Lucky Spinner. His connection with horse racing is probably one of the longest amongst racing journalists and this long-stretched presence at the race course had earned him a lot of affection and regard from the members of the RWITC as well. 

"He was a well-respected journalist who stood by what he believed. It is indeed a loss for racing. A man of principles is no more. I share the grief with his family," said Vivek Jain, Chairman, Marketing and Media, RWITC.

"He was a good correspondent and an even better human being. Principled to the boot! Helpful, with no personal greed whatsoever. A rare personality! He wanted to do so much for better racing, a man full of ideas. He always thought from the angle of racing public. He was a friend and I shall miss him," said trainer Imtiaz Sait.

"I am deeply saddened by the tragedy. I was especially grateful to him because Shuklaji was the only journalist who reported one of the biggest moments of my life, getting my trainer's licence. I was 21 then. You can imagine my thrill at that age. He knew it was significant for me and he had made my day! As a person he was a soft-hearted man, but very firm in his stance, always fighting for a cause. He was a leader in many ways. He was enthusiastic belying his age and always prepared to bring in new creative changes. A brave soul, one of those rare humans who stood by principles! His demise is a great loss to the racing industry," said trainer Narendra Lagad. 

Trainer MK Jadhav also mourned his death. "I knew him since his early days with Indian Express. He was a journalist of quality. He was very supportive and a personal friend. A very nice human being and a knowledgeable writer! May his soul rest in peace.”

For me personally, Shuklaji lectured me on what journalism is all about. When I mentioned to him that I would be writing for Indiarace, he was forthcoming with informative inputs that helped me immensely. That's the kind of human being that he was - always helpful and always meaning good to others. May his soul rest in peace! 

Shuklaji was diagnosed with the cancer of the throat. He was in and out of the hospital for the past year. His condition further deteriorated in the recent months and he lost considerable weight. His end was inevitable and he passed away in his sleep on Wednesday afternoon a little after 2 pm.

Indiarace mourns the demise of this senior journalist and pays homage to the departed soul.