India, Jan. 11 -- By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD

Let alone knowing him personally, I never had an occasion even to meet him or hear him speak, although I have read almost everything that he has written, especially by way of his half a dozen books, the best of which according to me is, 'A walk up the hill', which I feel, no man, woman or child, interested in our environment, should miss reading.

But I'm going to miss this man, Madhav Dhananjaya Gadgil, the little-known man who passed away in Pune, four days ago at the age of 83, for I used to see him as the right kind of medicine-man, for safeguarding the health of our environment in general and our magnificent Western Ghats in particular, which have nourished me and my forefathers, for nea...