{"id":3754,"date":"2026-01-24T08:52:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/books.kalantri.co.in\/?page_id=3754"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:53:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:23:01","slug":"covid-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"The Anniversary Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the fires of the second wave eventually began to dim, I walked the corridors that had been so eerily silent in March 2020. I still recall the weight of that early silence, a feeling I captured in a Facebook post<\/a><\/strong> at the very start of the pandemic. The hospital has physically transformed since then\u2014new oxygen plants hum with a mechanical heartbeat, and centralized pipelines snake through the walls of the medicine wards like silver veins. The “old” building stands as a battle-scarred veteran. But the most significant changes weren’t made of brick and mortar; they were etched into the spirit of the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember the first patient who arrived at our repurposed COVID block exactly 365 days prior. He was a sixty-four-year-old man from Washim, 225 kilometers away. He became, in a series of tragic “firsts,” our first COVID admission, our first patient to be intubated, and our first death. Looking back from the peak of the second wave, that single death seemed like a distant, somber warning of the deluge that was to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The Noise of Uncertainty<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

Over that year, we admitted more than five thousand patients. We delivered hundreds of babies to infected mothers, and we vaccinated thousands. Yet, the statistics do not capture the atmosphere of those twelve months. The nights in the ICU were never truly silent; they were filled with the relentless, aggressive noise of survival\u2014the hiss of high-flow oxygen, the urgent beeping of monitors, and the alarms that refused to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recall the endless loop of questions that defined our conversations in the staff cafeteria and the hallways. How long will this last? When will we find a treatment that actually works? How do I hug my children when I get home without fearing I am poisoning them?<\/em> As medical professionals, society looked to us as soothsayers, but the truth was that we were as uncertain as everyone else. We learned, painfully, that in a pandemic, the only thing you can be certain of is uncertainty itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The Death of Touch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

Someone remarked to me that the practice of medicine in Sevagram changed more in that single year than in the previous fifty combined. We are a hospital built on the Gandhian philosophy of being “with” the patient. But the virus forced us into a “no-touch” reality. We stopped seeing faces; we saw masks and goggles. We distanced ourselves, we touched less, and we listened from afar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear was the constant companion of every shift\u2014fear in the OPDs, fear in the labs, and a heavy, silent fear carried home in the car at the end of the day. And yet, we did not stop. With fear in our hearts and hope on our lips, we kept going. I watched our ICU teams wrest lives from the tightening jaws of death, and each of those “discharged” stories brought a flicker of light to days that were otherwise heavy with loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The Mirage of the Lull<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

By late January 2021, we had allowed ourselves a collective sigh of relief. The wards were emptying. The ventilators had finally stopped hissing. We believed, perhaps naively, that the monster had retreated for good. We began to talk about “normalcy” again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the virus was merely catching its breath. The second wave arrived with a merciless force that made the first year look like a rehearsal. We woke each day unsure if we were living through a nightmare or a waking reality. Wards overflowed. Staff fell ill just days after being vaccinated. We found ourselves sending “get well soon” messages to the very colleagues who, 48 hours earlier, had been standing beside us in the trenches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The Invisible Legacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

As I reflected on that anniversary, I thought of Dr. Sushila Nayar, who founded this college in 1969. I wondered what she would have made of her institution during this crisis. I believe she would have been proud\u2014not of a flawless execution, because perfection was impossible\u2014but of the fact that we stayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We practiced medicine guided by science, not by the loud, irrational currents of social media. We drew extraordinary work from ordinary people\u2014the attendants, the drivers, and the sweepers who are often invisible in times of calm but became the bedrock of our survival. This was a once-in-a-century pandemic, and it tested our resolve to its very core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anniversary was not a celebration; it was a testimony. We had learned that while we couldn’t predict the future, we could defend the present. We stood tall when the world fell silent, and we realized that “This too shall pass”\u2014but it would leave us forever changed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the fires of the second wave eventually began to dim, I walked the corridors that had been so eerily silent in March 2020. I still recall the weight of that early silence, a feeling I captured in a Facebook post at the very start of the pandemic. The hospital has physically transformed since then\u2014new … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1595,"menu_order":8080,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3754","page","type-page","status-publish"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Anniversary Reflection - GMC73 Archive he Echoes of the Red Zone: Leading MGIMS Sevagram Through Covid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Medical Superintendent Dr. SP Kalantri reflects on the pandemic at MGIMS Sevagram. From the 'Invisible Army' of hospital staff to the lessons of the Black Fungus epidemic, this chapter explores how a Gandhian institution held the line through the crisis of the century.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Anniversary Reflection \u2014 GMC Nagpur 1973 Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Medical Superintendent Dr. SP Kalantri reflects on the pandemic at MGIMS Sevagram. From the 'Invisible Army' of hospital staff to the lessons of the Black Fungus epidemic, this chapter explores how a Gandhian institution held the line through the crisis of the century.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GMC Nagpur 1973 Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-03T22:23:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/pandemic-years\\\/covid-anniversary\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/pandemic-years\\\/covid-anniversary\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Anniversary Reflection - GMC73 Archive he Echoes of the Red Zone: Leading MGIMS Sevagram Through Covid\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-24T14:22:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-03T22:23:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Medical Superintendent Dr. SP Kalantri reflects on the pandemic at MGIMS Sevagram. From the 'Invisible Army' of hospital staff to the lessons of the Black Fungus epidemic, this chapter explores how a Gandhian institution held the line through the crisis of the century.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/pandemic-years\\\/covid-anniversary\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/pandemic-years\\\/covid-anniversary\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/pandemic-years\\\/covid-anniversary\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Pandemic Years\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/pandemic-years\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Anniversary Reflection\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/\",\"name\":\"GMC73 Archive\",\"description\":\"GMC Nagpur Class of 1973\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sp.kalantri.co.in\\\/gmc73\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Anniversary Reflection - GMC73 Archive he Echoes of the Red Zone: Leading MGIMS Sevagram Through Covid","description":"Medical Superintendent Dr. SP Kalantri reflects on the pandemic at MGIMS Sevagram. From the 'Invisible Army' of hospital staff to the lessons of the Black Fungus epidemic, this chapter explores how a Gandhian institution held the line through the crisis of the century.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Anniversary Reflection \u2014 GMC Nagpur 1973 Archive","og_description":"Medical Superintendent Dr. SP Kalantri reflects on the pandemic at MGIMS Sevagram. From the 'Invisible Army' of hospital staff to the lessons of the Black Fungus epidemic, this chapter explores how a Gandhian institution held the line through the crisis of the century.","og_url":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/","og_site_name":"GMC Nagpur 1973 Archive","article_modified_time":"2026-03-03T22:23:01+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/","url":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/","name":"The Anniversary Reflection - GMC73 Archive he Echoes of the Red Zone: Leading MGIMS Sevagram Through Covid","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-24T14:22:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-03T22:23:01+00:00","description":"Medical Superintendent Dr. SP Kalantri reflects on the pandemic at MGIMS Sevagram. From the 'Invisible Army' of hospital staff to the lessons of the Black Fungus epidemic, this chapter explores how a Gandhian institution held the line through the crisis of the century.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/covid-anniversary\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Pandemic Years","item":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/pandemic-years\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Anniversary Reflection"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/","name":"GMC73 Archive","description":"GMC Nagpur Class of 1973","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3754"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9636,"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3754\/revisions\/9636"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sp.kalantri.co.in\/gmc73\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}