Essays on Medicine, Memory and Society

Remembering Badi Behenji: The Soul of Sevagam

We pause today to remember our beloved Dr. Sushila Nayar—fondly remembered by generations as Badi Behenji—on the anniversary of her passing. Looking back at records from 1938, it is humbling to glimpse the world she stepped into. At a time when India had barely ten medical colleges, she was one of just 51 women in … Read the essay

Badibai: A Life in Stories

I call her Badibai—the elder mother. It is a heavy title, perhaps, for a woman who is my sister, but from the moment I opened my eyes to the world, her affection has been so encompassing that the name simply stuck, fitting her as naturally as a well-worn cotton sari.

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Gabbar of Sevagram

This morning an old man stepped into my office, his jacket sagging, a faded muffler loose around his neck. His wooden tulsi beads had deepened in colour with age. He studied me, then joined his palms with a shy, familiar smile.

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The Scooters that carried Sevagram’s Heart to Jhansi

The bustle of any election, even today, makes me think of an older, quieter contest. I recall the Lok Sabha battles of Dr. Sushila Nayar, Behenji, fought far away in Jhansi. This was long after she had begun her great work, establishing the Medical College, right here in our own Sevagram.

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Dr. B.S. Choubey

Fourteen years ago, on this very day, 𝗗𝗿 𝗕. 𝗦. 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗲𝘆 left us for good.

Even now, nearly four decades later, my residency days at GMC Nagpur return with startling clarity. I still see him stepping into Ward 23: immaculately dressed, tie perfectly knotted, suit crisp, shoes shining, and his English as flawless as his clinical judgement.

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