Satram Gunomal Motwani, the man who would emerge quietly from behind the shelves at Oxford Bookstore, died on Tuesday. He was 85. He is survived by two sons.

Known as "Mr Motwani", to many he was the bookstore, where he had worked for 68 years. Visitors to the store would find him on the ground floor, watching over his books as if they were his flock, his features always composed, his tie always in place. He did not speak much, neither did he smile. But if anyone approached him looking for a book, he would, with utmost care, locate it, hand it over and return to his watch.

Technically an "advisor" to Oxford Bookstore, he was, in effect, much more. "He was an outstanding human being," says Maina Bhagat, director, Oxford Bookstore. "He knew every nook and cranny of the store," she says. His knowledge made the difference. Such knowledge is only born of love.

It did not matter that he did not have a formal higher education. Born in Pakistan to a Sindhi family in 1931, he came over to Calcutta and began work at the bookstore in 1948, when it was owned by the Primlanis, a Sindhi family. When the Apeejay group took over the store in 1987, Motwani was retained on the staff.

He knew the tastes of individual customers. If a customer placed an order for a book, he would call him or her when the book arrived.

"When B.K. Birla visited our store, he greeted Mr Motwani warmly. R.P. Goenka knew him, too," says Bhagat. "He embodied a gentler, kinder time, when values and courtesy mattered."

He was not equally partial to all books. Mandira Sen of Stree-Samya feels Motwani was not particularly responsive to the new independent ventures coming along -though he did stock some of their books - but adds: "He was actually Oxford."

"He would materialise from behind the shelves," says Sajni Mukherji, former professor of English, Jadavpur University. Mukherji, 71, has been visiting Oxford since she was five.

In a statement, Priti Paul, director, Apeejay group, said: "Mr Motwani was a remarkable man and every one at Oxford Bookstore, as well as generations of book lovers, are better for having known him."

Oxford Bookstore is holding a memorial meeting in his honour at the store, on November 29, at noon.