Reflections on Medicine and Life by Dr. S.P. Kalantri
“Louder, Manohar!” called Deshpande Sir from the front row. “You are not speaking to the buffaloes of Borgaon.” Manohar stepped into the light. “This is not a patient,” he said quietly. “This is a soul waiting for truth.” The hall erupted. Year after year, the heroines changed. Manohar remained. Without him, there was no play.
He had bought the khadi only the day before and had it stitched overnight. Behind him, as he left the interview room, he heard Pratibha Patil whisper: “He only stitched it to impress us.” Then Dr. Sushila Nayar’s voice, unhurried: “So what? Gandhiji always valued truth above appearance.” That reading of him stayed for fifty years.
Bhakti Dastane arrived at MGIMS Sevagram in 1969 as no stranger—daughter of builder Shri Dattoba Dastane, Gandhian educator who established Gandhi Seva Sangh library under Vinoba Bhave. Mother Malti, Mahila Ashram alumna, met Gandhi. Pre-accustomed to khadi, prayers, shramdan, she pursued Obstetrics-Gynaecology with quiet constancy. The library endures, as does her unspoken service tradition.
At seventeen and a half in 1969, Dev Krishna Gupta—from Sangat village, Bathinda, middle of seven in a Punjabi Bania family—pored over a map for Sevagram. No connections, just a Bombay uncle’s clipping, GT Express seat, and quiet adaptability. MGIMS honed it into clinical skill. First PG of his batch, he earned MS in Bombay, practised 47 years in UK, embodying Sevagram’s patient wisdom.
In 1969, Shalini Kohade joined MGIMS Sevagram via family friends’ Gandhian recommendation—no competitive exam needed. Her father had jailed in Quit India; their Raipur home hosted freedom fighters. An introverted book lover, she thrived there, secretly loved classmate Shivaji Deshmukh for five years, married post-MBBS. A hostel wrong number sparked it all—gaining education, husband, worldview, service commitment.