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 …
MGIMS
Dr. K.N. Ingley
(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 …
The Attendant and the Superintendent
Remember Rama Jagtap? You should. The boy from Hinganghat village, the one who worked in the Paediatrics OPD in the late 1970s. Thin, eager, barely twenty, with eyes that held more hope than fear. He had just married. Life was beginning to bloom when a bolt struck from nowhere. Without warning, his services were terminated. …
Sketching Silence: Remembering Dr. Kush Kumar
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 …
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 …
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 …
When Medicine Lost, Obstetrics Won!
The girl was born in Gondia, the youngest of six, the apple of her father’s eye. While her family thrived in business, she set her sights on medicine. She pursued her MBBS at Government Medical College, Nagpur. The year was 1966. During her undergraduate years, one man recognized her brilliance—Dr. G.S. Sainani, the head of …
Can One Conversation change the Destiny?
Can a doctor—a family friend—steer you from engineering to medicine? Can a few words make you trade certainty for the unknown? Yes. Dr. R.V. Wardekar did just that. But he was no ordinary doctor. In the 1940s, he left the bustling metropolis of Mumbai for the quiet simplicity of Sevagram —and reshaped public health. In …