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 …
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MGIMS
MGIMS: 1969
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 …
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 …
The Dean, The Lambretta and The Dusty road
In the good old days, life in Sevagram was simple. The roads were dusty, the air always hot, and the village felt far removed from bustling cities. Yet amidst this simplicity, something rare filled the air—humility. Once upon a time, the heads of departments and deans were more than just figures of authority. They were …
𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟬𝘀: 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀
That old black phone—solid, heavy, a relic of a time when voices travelled through wires, not airwaves. Each number on its dial, a small circle, waiting for a finger to spin it. No speed dial, no saved contacts—just memory and precision. Calls were brief, words measured. Every minute cost money. The phone perched on a …
A Walk Down Memory Lane: The Forgotten Colonies of MGIMS
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 …
𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗚𝗜𝗠𝗦: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗺
In 1970, a young man arrived at Gandhiji’s ashram in Sevagram. A year later, he joined a medical college, not as a student but as an artist. Although he left the college after twenty-five years, he left behind footprints in the black cotton soil of Sevagram. The medical institution was 𝗠𝗚𝗜𝗠𝗦, and the young man …
𝗠𝗚𝗜𝗠𝗦 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟯: 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸
In 1982, I began my medical career as a senior resident in Medicine. By 1983, while living in Wardha with my parents, 8 km away from the medical college, I began teaching the 1979 batch of students from MGIMS. That summer, Sevagram faced a severe water shortage. Wells dried up, rivers shrank, overhead tanks emptied, …
A Handkerchief’s Tale: Memories with Indira Gandhi
After my recent Facebook post, Dr. Bajrang Prasad Pandey, an MGIMS graduate from the 1970 batch who later became a Pharmacology professor at BHU, Varanasi, shared an interesting story about Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to Sevagram in the early 1970s. Mrs Gandhi had come to MGIMS to speak to a handful of medical students …