We walk past her statue, work in her hospital, and invoke her name often. But how many of us know who Kasturba really was before she became Gandhi’s Ba? Ask anyone in Sevagram today, and chances are—not one person might recall who she is. Or who she was. Until you pause and whisper her name. …
Sevagram
A Night to Remember- Dammad, 1974
It was 1974 — a year when Sevagram went to sleep early, and the nights belonged to the crickets and a handful of restless medical students in the JN Boys’ hostel. MGIMS was still young then. The world had no screens or smartphones to stare at, and evenings found purpose on a small wooden stage …
The Hundred Tests and the Missing Story
Dilip arrived in my outpatient room and settled on the stool with the solemnity of a man about to announce something of national importance. “I have a stone in the gall bladder,” he declared. He did not sound like one in distress, but rather like someone unveiling a secret possession. I leaned forward. “Yes, but …
Five Doctors, Five Roads Less traveled
In Sevagram, some medical students chose roads no one expected. They arrived at MGIMS in 1969 and the early 1970s with one aim. To become doctors. Yet life, with its quiet nudges and sudden jolts, steered them elsewhere. What unfolded were stories richer than fiction, each marked by the sacred soil of Sevagram. _________________________________________ Take …
Down Memory Lane
Dr. Alhad Pimputkar (MGIMS Batch of 1971), the lead actor of the unforgettable Marathi drama 𝙆𝙖𝙠𝙖 𝙆𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙮𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙖, takes us back to February 1974—when this play brought the Sevagram campus alive and left the open-air auditorium ringing with laughter. Two of the play’s brilliant actors, Dr. Sudhir Deshmukh (1970 batch) and Dr. Narayan Daware (1971 batch), …
Bappa and Joshi: The Gentle Legends of MGIMS Stage
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 …
Five Doctors, Five Roads Les Traveled
In Sevagram, some medical students chose roads no one expected. They arrived at MGIMS in 1969 and the early 1970s with one aim. To become doctors. Yet life, with its quiet nudges and sudden jolts, steered them elsewhere. What unfolded were stories richer than fiction, each marked by the sacred soil of Sevagram. ______________________________________________________ Take …
An Evening in Sevagram, 1974
Yesterday evening, in the quiet of the MGIMS library, I found Sushruta—the 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), …
Babulal: Bhamashah of Sevagram
If you ask any MGIMS student from the 1970s or ’80s 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, Babulal’s canteen was their 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘢, their little world in …
The Anatomy Professor
This morning in Kolkata, I finally checked off the first—and most cherished—stop on my list: a visit to Dr. S.K. Ghosh. For nearly two decades in Sevagram, he wasn’t 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. …