Reflections on Medicine and Life by Dr. S.P. Kalantri
SP Kalantri, a physician at MGIMS, Sevagram, founded in 1969, studies 3,978 alumni names over 55 years and discovers how first names changed over the last two decades.
Read →Bombay, 1975. The air was salty, the streets bustling, and a young doctor stood quietly outside the gates of St. George’s Hospital. Fresh out of internship at MGIMS, Sevagram, he had no roadmap for his future. Sevagram did not offer postgraduate training—its founder Dr. Sushila Nayar wanted her students to serve in villages. But government … Read more
87 and still going strong. I saw 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗹𝗷𝗶 yesterday in the hospital—he had come for his routine check-up. After the consultation, we sat down for a long chat. The moment MGIMS is mentioned, his eyes light up. Tea. 𝘈𝘭𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢. His hot, cardamom-flavoured tea and crisp, spicy aloo bondas were more than just snacks. And … Read more
In 1969, Dr. P.L. Vaishwanar—Project Officer and Head of Physiology at GMC Nagpur—arrived in Sevagram to help build India’s first rural medical college. He wasn’t focused only on bricks and mortar. He wanted to build people. Before the college could welcome students, it needed a team—not just doctors and professors, but technicians and attendants who … Read more
Dr. Shyam Babhulkar (Batch of 1969) It was the summer of 1969. I had just cleared B.Sc. Part I from J.B. Science College, Wardha, when I spotted an ad in Tarun Bharat, a Marathi daily. A new medical college was starting in Sevagram. I applied on impulse. Soon came the interview call. Now, I was … Read more
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗚𝗜𝗠𝗦: (𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟰) In my last post, I shared how Dr. Sushila Nayar secured approvals from the central and state governments to start MGIMS in 1969—and how, against all odds, she managed to get an unexpected ₹2 crore grant from USAID. For a moment, it felt like the hardest part was over. But … Read more