In 1969, Dr. P.L. Vaishwanar—Project Officer and Head of Physiology at GMC Nagpur—arrived in Sevagram to help build India’s first rural medical college. He wasn’t focused only on bricks and mortar. He wanted to build people. Before the college could welcome students, it needed a team—not just doctors and professors, but technicians and attendants who …
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MGIMS
A Train Ride that Changed Everything
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗚𝗜𝗠𝗦: (𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟰) In my last post, I shared how Dr. Sushila Nayar secured approvals from the central and state governments to start MGIMS in 1969—and how, against all odds, she managed to get an unexpected ₹2 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 pharmacology—an alumnus of the MGIMS Class of 1970—and he shared his story. It’s a charming throwback to simpler times, full of serendipity, sincerity, and a touch of destiny. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣’𝙨 𝙎𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝘿𝙤𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 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 catch—a 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 Gandhi—once dismissed by Ram Manohar Lohia as a “goongi gudiya” (dumb doll)—defied 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: “We produce thousands of doctors every year, yet our villages remain without care. These doctors are trained in cities. And stay there. Why can’t we …
Why I remember Dr Sandeep Kumar Dey Today
Last Thursday, a plane crashed in Ahmedabad. In just a moment, 274 lives were lost—people 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 years—to another plane crash, another tragedy, another …
Two Tragedies
Yesterday’s 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, 𝗟𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁 Mahajan …
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗚𝗜𝗠𝗦
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 work—rescuing 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 footing—and so was its library. A single almirah, 35 books, one table, and two chairs. But what …