Veteran journalist Rajendra Yadav paid rich tributes to his friend: ‘‘What Manohar Shyam Joshi did nobody could. He was a peerless personality, a master of languages including Hindi, English and Urdu. His death is a shock to me.’’

Senior journalist and close friend Ramsharan Joshi said: ‘‘I first met him at Bombay in 1960 when he was working in Film Division as a script writer. We stayed together at the house of director and scriptwriter Umesh Mathur. He took me as one of the four prominent characters of his first novel.’’ His contributions to Hindi journalism will remain unforgettable due his wonderful capture of idioms, he added.

Joshi has also won several awards including MP Sahitya Parishad Samman, Sharad Joshi Samman, Shikhar Samman, Delhi Hindi Akademi Award and Onida and Uptron award for television writing.