When Dr. Kush Kumar first walked into Sevagram in the blistering summer of 1976, conversations stopped mid-sentence. He was hard to miss—tall, broad-shouldered, eyes probing behind thick spectacles. His English was flawless—precise when he spoke, elegant when he wrote. On rounds, his questions made residents squirm. In the OR, he moved like a man in …
Written by
SP Kalantri
When Her Turn Finally Came
She was just 33. At first glance, she looked heavy. And she was—79 kilos. That’s not what we usually see. Most women who come to us are thin, often undernourished, their bodies shaped by years of poverty and hard work. But her weight was hiding something. A lump in her breast had grown quietly for …
Prabhakarji
Shri Prabhakar Joseph, affectionately known as Prabhakarji, was a beacon of humility, dedication, and unwavering commitment to Gandhian principles. His journey from a modest background in Andhra Pradesh to becoming a pivotal figure at Sevagram Ashram is a testament to the transformative power of selfless service. Born into a community where meat consumption, including carrion, …
From Healer to Healed
Friday, 26 January 2024. Republic Day. Dawn broke, quiet and cold. I woke up at 5 a.m., as I always did. Ashwini had taken a late-night flight from Pune, delayed for hours. His plane finally touched down in Nagpur at 3:30 a.m. By the time he reached home, it was 5. I was already at …
RIP, USAID.
USAID, born in 1961, is no more. Its fate was sealed by President Trump, one of the many sweeping decisions he made soon after ascending to power. Why should this news bother MGIMS or Sevagram? It should. MGIMS was born in 1969, but without USAID’s help, it might have perished in infancy—struggling to survive, gasping …
The Ps…
The corridors of the Medicine Department in Sevagram in the early 1980s pulsed with an odd sort of rhythm, a melody not of footsteps or hurried whispers, but of letters. Not just any letters—𝙋s. I arrived in the summer of 1982, stepping into a world where initials carried more weight than full names, where the …
A Lab, A Leader and A Legend: The Tale of Tukaram Gawande
In the late 1960s, a young man stepped off a dusty bus in Sevagram. Tukaram Sitaram Gawande had traveled over 200 kilometers, seeking relief from a stubborn fistula. Kasturba Hospital, known for its Ayurvedic treatments, offered hope. The cure worked. But Sevagram offered something more. He stayed. Fate, however, had its own script. In April …
Lessons That Last a Lifetime: Saying Goodbye to Dr. A.P. Jain
Physicians vary greatly: some prioritize art, others science; some are humble, others overconfident; some are bold, others cautious; some trust intuition, others data. Where did Dr. A.P. Jain fit among them? Nowhere and everywhere. He was art and science, instinct and intellect. He revered the power of physical signs but never dismissed modern technology. He …
Holi and Dr. M.L. Sharma
Holi in Sevagram always brings back memories of Dr. M. L. Sharma—the man who taught pharmacology with flair and led MGIMS through its formative years, shaping the college well beyond its adolescence. In the classroom, Dr. Sharma was a performer. Anyone who learned pharmacology from him will tell you—it wasn’t just a subject; it was …
What is in a Name…
In today’s world, naming a baby is almost a competitive sport. Parents meticulously curate lists, debate meanings, consult astrologers, and even conduct online polls before settling on the perfect name. But in the 1970s, in the sleepy yet bustling medical campus of Sevagram, things were… different. Dr. Shashi Prabha Ahuja—better known as Dr. S.P. Ahuja—was …