Milestones
1957 – 2026Some journeys are carefully planned. Others unfold quietly, shaped by people, places, opportunities, and chance. Mine began in Wardha, passed through classrooms and hospital wards, and eventually found a home in Sevagram.
Dates can never capture a life fully. They miss the doubts and dilemmas, failures and friendships, unexpected turns, and small decisions that quietly change our direction. Yet dates serve as signposts.
These milestones trace moments—personal and professional—that shaped my life, the people who walked with me, and the institution that became home.
Early Years in Wardha
Born in Wardha, Maharashtra, to Parvati and Gokuldas Kalantri, the youngest of six siblings. Grew up surrounded by two sisters and three brothers in a family where no one in the previous three generations had entered medicine. Becoming a doctor meant travelling a path the family had not walked before.
Studied at Craddock High School and Swavalambi Vidyalaya, Wardha.
Studied science at Jankidevi Bajaj Science College, Wardha.
Learning Medicine
Joined Government Medical College, Nagpur, for MBBS. The years at GMC introduced me to medicine, lifelong friendships, and teachers who shaped my understanding of clinical practice.
Completed internship at District Hospital, Yavatmal, and Primary Health Centre, Bhadrawati, Chandrapur district — early exposure to healthcare outside large hospitals.
Completed MD Medicine from Government Medical College, Nagpur.
Sevagram: Medicine, Teaching, and Writing
Joined the Department of Medicine at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, as a senior resident. Began teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students soon after joining. What began as a professional move gradually became a lifelong relationship with an institution and a village.
Became Lecturer in Medicine, continuing a journey of bedside teaching, clinical discussions, and learning with generations of medical students and residents.
Married Bhavana. Sevagram became our shared journey.
Birth of son Ashwini.
Edited the Medico Friend Circle Bulletin—engaging with questions of health, society, and ethics beyond hospital walls.
Birth of daughter Amrita.
Edited the MGIMS News Bulletin, documenting events, people, and institutional memories.
Started leading an independent Medicine unit and became a postgraduate guide for MD Medicine students. Bedside teaching, clinical discussion, research, and mentoring residents became central to academic life.
Bhavana joined the hospital computerisation programme and later worked with the Hospital Information System from its beginning in 2004, serving as database administrator until her retirement in 2025.
Discovered evidence-based medicine. It changed how I read the literature, evaluated research, and approached clinical decisions.
Edited the MGIMS Annual Reports — work that involved collecting the stories of departments, colleagues, students, and a changing institution.
Served as Associate Editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between medicine, society, and professional responsibility.
Studied epidemiology and public health at the University of California, Berkeley. Returned to Sevagram with a deeper interest in evidence, research methods, and population health.
The Next Generation
Ashwini joined MGIMS as a medical student—the campus where he grew up became his medical school. He later chose Community Medicine and continued at MGIMS.
Amrita joined MGIMS as a medical student. She later trained in Radiology.
Ashwini married Shaily. They made Sevagram their home, continuing their association with MGIMS and Kasturba Hospital.
Amrita married Sahaj.
Amrita moved to Richmond, Virginia, USA, with Sahaj and their children, Krit and Samanvi.
Learning Administration
Became Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital. The role introduced me to another side of medicine — building the systems that support patient care.
Worked with colleagues to strengthen hospital services, including dialysis, critical care, information technology, and patient support.
Worked to improve access to affordable medicines through the low-cost branded generics initiative, reducing medicine costs for patients visiting the hospital.
Became Director Professor of Medicine.
Intensive Coronary Care Unit and Cath Lab services began at Kasturba Hospital, bringing cardiac care closer to patients in the region.
New Interests, New Chapters
Took up long-distance cycling. Completed several brevets and cycled more than 15,000 kilometres. Cycling offered time away from hospital routines and opened a new world of roads, landscapes, and friendships.
Worked with a heritage architect and colleagues to convert an old Obstetrics and Gynaecology ward into the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Library — an old clinical space adapted into a place for reading and learning.
A 30-bed palliative care centre began at Sevagram, offering comfort care for people living with serious illness and facing end-of-life concerns.
Completed a 700-page chronicle of the Government Medical College Nagpur 1973 batch. Writing the stories of classmates became an exercise in preserving memories.
Worked with the Kasturba Hospital team through the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis reinforced an old lesson: epidemics need more science, not less. In a time filled with fear, uncertainty, and untested treatments, evidence-based decisions helped guide patient care, avoid unnecessary interventions, and use limited resources wisely.
Stepped down as Medical Superintendent after nearly fourteen years. Many asked why. I asked myself, why not? It was time for new people, new ideas, and a new chapter. Returned to more time for reading, writing, teaching, and reflection.
Continue to live in Sevagram with Bhavana, Ashwini, Shaily, and granddaughters Diti and Nivi. Three generations sharing one home — a tradition familiar to many Indian families.
Published Stetho in Sevagram. After decades spent editing newsletters, reports, journals, and the stories of others, I finally turned the page towards my own.