Science, Stories and Sevagram: A Physician-Teacher's Reflections
SP Kalantri Dr. Anita Borges passed away yesterday. A heart attack took her from us. What a remarkable pathologist she was. I never met her, but in 2017 I watched her hour-long YouTube talk, โ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐ด๐ฎโ. Professors are often stubborn, their egos rarely allowing them to acknowledge mistakes in public. She was the exception. She … Read more
Nostalgia. I use this word often. Perhaps it comes with age, a habit of looking back, of holding on to the past. But sometimes I wonder. Am I using it right? The ending -algia makes me pause. In medicine, algos means pain. Every day, I prescribe analgesics to my patients, medicines that take the algia … Read more
A few days ago, Saurabh Ganguly switched off the IndiaโPakistan match after the 15th over and watched the Manchester Derby instead. Iโm not surprised. As a medical student in the 70s and 80s, I grew up watching Pakistan at its peakโImran Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Sarfraz Nawaz, Abdul Qadir, Mudassar Nazar, Wasim Akram, Waqar … Read more
I still remember that evening in Sevagram in 1974 as if it happened yesterday. The dusty courtyard of the hostel had been swept clean, a few strings of yellow bulbs hung across bamboo poles, and students kept rushing about with last-minute instructions. We were ready to stage Kaka Kishyacha, a Marathi play that had already … Read more
Yesterday evening, in the quiet of the MGIMS library, I found Sushrutaโthe student magazine from 1974. Its cover was worn. The pages were yellow, some torn at the edges, faded with age. They carried the smell of time. As I turned them, I reached the Marathi section edited by Dr. Narayan Daware (class of 1971), … Read more
Last week, I shared a post about Surendra Gujarโthe ever-present photographer who arrived in Sevagram in 1970 and went on to serve MGIMS for more than two and a half decades. In 1997, he turned off the flash and walked into the light. He was more than just a photographer. With a simple camera, steady … Read more
Sevagram, 1970. Dr. Sushila Nayar, ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ช ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ซ๐ช, stands among medical students, passing a basket of waste from hand to hand. This was ๐ด๐ฉ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ. Not an occasional gesture, but a way of life on campus.She arrived in Sevagram in 1938, fresh from Lady Hardinge, to treat Gandhijiโs high blood pressure. But what she truly learned here … Read more
If you ask any MGIMS student from the 1970s or โ80s about their Dean, or even most of their professors, the memories may be hazy. Names of many classmates might have slipped away too. But mention Babulal, and the recollections come rushing back. In those days, Babulalโs canteen was their ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข, their little world in … Read more
This morning in Kolkata, I finally checked off the firstโand most cherishedโstop on my list: a visit to Dr. S.K. Ghosh. For nearly two decades in Sevagram, he wasnโt just my next-door neighbor. He was a dear friend, a quiet philosopher, a family confidant, and a guide who brought warmth and wisdom into everyday life. … Read more
Yesterday, I was in Kolkata for just a few hours. I called her on the phone and told her I was in Alipore. โAlipore, sir?โ she said, โIโll come right over.โ She hadnโt even finished rounding on her patients, but she made time to meet meโfor a single cup of tea. I hadnโt realised how … Read more