Science, Stories and Sevagram: A Physician-Teacher's Reflections
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 … Read more
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: … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
“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. … Read more
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 … Read more
In August 1969, the first batch of medical students arrived in Sevagram. Sixty of them, to be precise—forty-six boys and fourteen girls—armed with dreams, duffel bags, and probably very few clues. But there was one small problem: Where exactly was the college? And more urgently: Where were they going to live? The answer lay just … Read more
The names—Kabir, Ramdas, Vivekanand, Guru Nanak, Ramkrishna, Dharmanand, Martin Luther King, Patel, and Birla—are more than just colonies in Sevagram. They hold memories of beginnings, struggles, friendships, and quiet acts of courage. Each name has a story to tell. Yesterday, a thought crossed my mind, almost by accident Dr. Sanjay Diwan had asked whether the … Read more