Science, Stories and Sevagram: A Physician-Teacher's Reflections
In May 1964, after Prime Minister Nehru died, Lal Bahadur Shastri assumed office. One day, during an informal conversation, Shastriji shared a concern with Union Health Minister Dr. Sushila Nayar: โWe produce thousands of doctors every year, yet our villages remain without care. These doctors are trained in cities. And stay there. Why canโt we … Read more
August 8, 1968. A date like many others in the national calendarโalmost 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 Delhiโfamoulsy frugal. Beside him sat Vasantrao Naik, Chief … Read more
“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 … Read more
Yesterday morning, during my rounds at Sevagram Hospital, I observed a flurry of activity along the road connecting the main gate to the Medicine department. Workers were laying hot tar on gravel, the air thick with the sharp scent of asphalt as rollers smoothed the surface. By evening, a transformation was complete: a gleaming black … Read more
In 1969, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited MGIMS. She spoke to a small group of medical students in the Adhyayan Mandir near the old Kasturba hospital. I’m unsure about the occasion of Indira Gandhi’s visit, as I was only a ninth-grade student at Swavalambi Vidyalaya in Wardha at that time. This morning, I stumbled upon … Read more