SP Kalantri
SP Kalantri
Bhupendra Nath Das—widely known as B.N. Das and one of the earliest members of the MGIMS library team—called me this morning. Now in his early 80s, his voice quivered with emotion as he reminisced about Dr. R.V. Agrawal’s role in establishing the MGIMS library. B.N. Das, then a 24-year-old from Calcutta, would later retire from …
August 8, 1968. A date like many others in the national calendar—almost 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 Delhi—famoulsy frugal. Beside him sat Vasantrao Naik, Chief …
This evening I was walking past the old Kasturba Hospital building—the 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 “𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺.” It hung askew on the aging wall, its rusted edges …
Exactly a week ago, I landed in Indore to visit my elder sister. But my heart tugged in another direction—toward 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 …
“Yesterday, I took three drops of Sarpagandha—morning and evening. Walked and talked. Still, my blood pressure was 196/ 112. But there’s no cause for worry.” “I took three drops of Sarpagandha—morning and evening. Walked. Talked. Still, my blood pressure is 196 over 112. But there’s no cause for worry.” A letter. Dated October 28, 1941. …
This afternoon, while leafing through the brittle pages of a dusty medical journal, I paused. There it was—a paper from 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦, dated August 1942. The author: Dr. Sushila Nayar. I blinked. Could it be 𝘰𝘶𝘳 Sushila Nayar? The physician who walked beside Gandhiji and founded 𝘩𝘦𝘳 MGIMS? The young doctor who became …
“Enough is enough,” thundered Dr. Sushila Nayar, her voice cutting through the hall.“No more free PG seats for MGIMS boys and girls. If they want postgraduate degrees, they must first serve two years in the villages.” She meant it. In 1969, Dr. Nayar had built MGIMS on a dream: to raise doctors who would live …
Every institution has its unsung builders—some lay bricks, others teach, a few lead. And then there are those who, in quiet corners, type history into being. One keystroke at a time. Mr. Manilal Pathak was one such man. He was born on 5 February 1944 in Jethwara, a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district. His …
22nd April. One Year. Exactly a year ago, in the quiet hours of the morning, Dhirubhai left us. He was 86. It still feels unreal. Time slows when I think of him. When Dr. Sushila Nayar invited him in 1982 to take charge of MGIMS, he hesitated. “I couldn’t even pronounce the names of half …
(December 9, 1931 – April 19, 2025)Dr. Keshao Narayan Ingley—known to all as Dr. K.N. Ingley—was born on December 9, 1931, in the dusty heartland of Buldhana. As the eldest of five siblings, he learned early what it meant to lead, to share, and to wait his turn. The home was always full—voices echoing through …