SP Kalantri
SP Kalantri
August 8, 1968. A date like many others in the national calendarโalmost forgotten. But in a modest meeting room in Delhi, something quietly historic stirred. Three minds met. The agenda: to build a medical college in Sevagram Morarji Desai, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, was from Delhiโfamoulsy frugal. Beside him sat Vasantrao Naik, Chief …
This evening I was walking past the old Kasturba Hospital buildingโthe one that now houses the Department of Community Medicine. I had walked past it hundreds of times, but today, something made me stop. There it was: a small, weather-beaten board that read โ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ.โ It hung askew on the aging wall, its rusted edges …
๐๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ, Pendsey. ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ? ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ Happy Birthday! Itโs the 18th of May. Like always, I wake up thinking of you, ๐๐ฟ. ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฒ๐. For years, Iโd call and surprise you with my rusty German. Youโd laugh, loudly. โ๐๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ,โ youโd say. Your accent was better. Your joy, louder. That laugh still echoes. …
I must admit that I, too, wasโand still amโa medical teacher who guidedโor is misguided the more appropriate word?โover three dozen postgraduates in writing their MD theses. I do not wish to stand on a pedestal or adopt a โholier than thouโ posture. I have erred, misjudged, behaved badly, mishandled situations, and at times, been …
โSo, whatโs up?โ I asked the young postgraduate from a neighbouring medical college. He had just run into me on the road. โIโve finished my thesis, sir,โ he said, sounding both relieved and battle-weary. โNow preparing for the MD examsโjust two months to go.โ โThatโs done?โ I raised my eyebrows. โAlready?โ โYes, sir,โ he nodded. …
Another DNB thesis lands in my inboxโjoining its MD cousins. My task is to evaluate it. A formality, really. The postgraduate has written it, the professor has supervised itโor so the paperwork claims. I enter the username, type the password, and open the fileโwithout hope. An immaculate PDF appears. Crisp formatting. Polished grammar. Elegant English. …
This Sunday, Dr. Sudhakar Joshi passed away. An alumnus of the GMC Nagpur class of 1969, he was four years senior to me. Between 1979 and 1982, during our postgraduate years in Medicine at Government Medical College, Nagpur, we found ourselves gravitating more toward the residents and lecturers than the professors. They were closer to …
This morning, my friend Ramesh Mundle called to inform me that Dr. H.C. Attal, former Professor of Medicine at GMC Nagpur, passed away yesterday at the age of 80. He taught us medicine during our residency at Government Medical College, Nagpur, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He led one of the six medicine …
Exactly a week ago, I landed in Indore to visit my elder sister. But my heart tugged in another directionโtoward someone I had to see. Dr. Karunakar Trivedi. That morning, I dialed his number. His voice, gentle and warm, hadn’t changed with time. He welcomed me without pause. By noon, I was standing before Trivedi …
โYesterday, I took three drops of Sarpagandhaโmorning and evening. Walked and talked. Still, my blood pressure was 196/ 112. But thereโs no cause for worry.โ โI took three drops of Sarpagandhaโmorning and evening. Walked. Talked. Still, my blood pressure is 196 over 112. But thereโs no cause for worry.โ A letter. Dated October 28, 1941. …