Dr K.V. Desikan, a legend in leprosy, passed away on 23rd October, 2022. He was ninety six. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Dr. Desikan invested considerable effort and time trying to understand the mystery that shrouds leprosy. He began working in an area few others cared about. Leprosy, in the early fifties, …
Dr BC Harinath
The passing away of Dr BC Harinath evokes so many memories. He came to Sevagram in 1970, fresh with a PhD in Biochemistry from the USA. Sevagram was a small village then and young Harinath had trouble adjusting to Sevagram. The first batch of medical students had arrived only a year ago and Dr Harinath …
A Train Ride that Changed Everything
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ: (๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ) In my last post, I shared how Dr. Sushila Nayar secured approvals from the central and state governments to start MGIMS in 1969โand how, against all odds, she managed to get an unexpected โน2 crore grant from USAID. For a moment, it felt like the hardest part was over. But …
Even a Policeman’s Son can become a Doctor
How did students get into MGIMS five decades ago? I asked a senior professor of pharmacologyโan alumnus of the MGIMS Class of 1970โand he shared his story. Itโs a charming throwback to simpler times, full of serendipity, sincerity, and a touch of destiny. ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃโ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฟ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง The year was 1969. …
The Birth of a Dream ( MGIMS Stroy Part 3)
In my last post, I told you how deputy prime minister Morarji Desai in 1968 agreed to fund a medical college in rural India. But there was a catchโa formidable one. The hospital would need to raise 25% of the funds itself. Not just once, but every year. Forever. The formula was simple on paper: …
The Political Storm and the Birth of MGIMS ( Part 2)
Between 1966 and 1969, Indian politics was a storm in motion. Indira Gandhiโonce dismissed by Ram Manohar Lohia as a โgoongi gudiyaโ (dumb doll)โdefied expectations. Not only did she win the 1967 general election, but she also consolidated power and emerged as a formidable Prime Minister. The Congress party soon split: the old guard became …
The Birth of a Dream: How MGIMS Sevagram came into Being
In May 1964, after Prime Minister Nehru died, Lal Bahadur Shastri assumed office. One day, during an informal conversation, Shastriji shared a concern with Union Health Minister Dr. Sushila Nayar: โWe produce thousands of doctors every year, yet our villages remain without care. These doctors are trained in cities. And stay there. Why canโt we …
Why I remember Dr Sandeep Kumar Dey Today
Last Thursday, a plane crashed in Ahmedabad. In just a moment, 274 lives were lostโpeople on board and on the ground. As the news scrolled across my screen, something stirred deep inside me. A long-healed scar began to ache again. In that moment, I was transported back 25 yearsโto another plane crash, another tragedy, another …
Two Tragedies
Yesterdayโs Air India tragedy in Ahmedabad, where 241 lives were lost within moments of takeoff, has left the nation grieving. For many of us, the news brought a wave of shock and sorrow. For some, it also stirred the memory of another flight, another heartbreak, from a time long past. In January 1966, ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ Mahajan …
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ
When Gandhiji was assassinated in January 1948, the world Dr. Sushila Nayar had built her life around collapsed. She was just 33. In the chaos that followed, she threw herself into relief workโrescuing abducted women from the violence of riot-torn Punjab. Something inside her had broken. She had lost Bapu. And with him, the compass …
The Jouney of MGIMS Library
Long before Sevagram became a sprawling campus of healing and learning, something quietly profound took root beside the Biochemistry lab on the ground floor of the old Kasturba hospital. It was 1969. The college was just finding its footingโand so was its library. A single almirah, 35 books, one table, and two chairs. But what …
More than Books: A Tribute to MGIMS Library and Dr. R.V. Agrawal
Bhupendra Nath Dasโwidely known as B.N. Das and one of the earliest members of the MGIMS library teamโcalled me this morning. Now in his early 80s, his voice quivered with emotion as he reminisced about Dr. R.V. Agrawalโs role in establishing the MGIMS library. B.N. Das, then a 24-year-old from Calcutta, would later retire from …