Suresh Satghare remembers the smell of puffed rice (murmure) and roasted grams (phutane) that filled his childhood home. His father, Narayanrao, ran a family business selling these humble staples from a rented house in Juni Shukrawari. For Suresh, the path from selling Diwali sweets (batase) to interpreting the digital complexities of an MRI was a trek across a vast economic and technological divide. He was the “Pure PG”—a student who was paid neither stipend nor scholarship, who survived by teaching Ayurveda students in the early morning before reporting to the radiology department at 9 am.
The Forest Officer’s Investment
Suresh’s early life unfolded across the district towns of Vidarbha. Born in Nagpur, he completed his primary schooling at Chitnavispura Primary School in Juni Shukrawari in 1964. He then spent five formative years at Dadasaheb Dhanwate Nagar Vidyalaya in Mahal. In 1969, he moved to Chandrapur to study at City High School, adapting once again to a new town and routine.
After completing his Pre-University course and a year of science at Janta College, Chandrapur, he returned to Nagpur in 1973—this time to join Government Medical College, the institution that would shape his professional life.
As Suresh moved from one school to another, his elder brother, Shankarrao, remained a constant anchor. A forest officer posted in Yavatmal, Shankarrao quietly stepped into a father’s role. He bore the cost of Suresh’s education, offering the financial steadiness their family’s modest puffed-rice business could never ensure.
He entered GMC Nagpur in 1973 alongside classmates like Pramod Bangde and Maya Bhaskarwar. After interning in Mohadi and Chandrapur, he registered for his DMRD in 1981. This was a period of severe financial austerity for Indian post-graduates. The central government had stopped scholarships, leaving Satghare to fend for himself.
I was a “Pure PG.” Unable to make both ends meet, I started my private practice at Sakkardara Mirchi Bazaar, spending my evenings among poor patients. Before reporting to the department at 9 am, I gave tuitions to 32 Ayurveda students, teaching them the tips and tricks to establish their practice.
This period illustrates the historical sweep of the 1970s—an era before the standardization of resident stipends, where the pursuit of a specialty was often a battle against poverty.
From Barium to the Digital Frontier
Satghare’s academic career spanned six medical colleges across Maharashtra—from Solapur and Aurangabad to Ambajogai and Yavatmal. He obtained his MD in Radiology in 1995, writing a thesis on the role of barium enemas in colonic disorders. His career reflects the dramatic metamorphosis of his specialty.
When I did my DMRD, Radiology was restricted to X-rays and barium studies. Our interventional radiology comprised procedures like splenoportography and carotid angiography—procedures that are outdated today.
He was a pioneer in developing departments in under-resourced areas, earning honors from the Health Minister and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for his work in Ambajogai and Latur. Yet, the central tension remained administrative. He frequently encountered interference from local politicians and resistance from bureaucracy—problems he learned to “cope with” during his nomadic tenure in state medical colleges.
The Legacy in Indore
Suresh retired from government service in 2018, having reached the rank of Professor of Radiology. But his “second innings” continues. In 2021, he joined the Index Medical College in Indore. This move completed a significant family circle: his son, Sanket, is a final-year medical student at the same institute.
Satghare remains a man of deep gratitude—toward his brother who funded him and his mother, Laxmibai, who lived to the age of 102. He has moved from the Mirchi Bazaar practice to the MCI inspections of the country’s best medical schools. He is the boy from the balloon factory home who mastered the “Science of Shadows,” proving that with enough discipline, even a “Pure PG” can leave a trail of light across the landscape of medical education.