Veteran journalist Rambhau Joshi becomes a centenarian

Veteran Marathi journalist and author Rambhau Joshi has become a centenarian as per Hindu panchang, last weekend,  on Margasheersha shuddha Saptami.
This article is a tribute to Appa, as he is known in Maharashtra, to be published on December 13, 2021. his 98th birthday as per the Gregorian calendar. 

I am amazed.  For a 100-year-old, he still has a memory of events in 1942 when Yashwantrao Chavan who was then a firebrand member of Parallel Government in Satara district of Maharashtra. This was set up by Mahatma Gandhi’s young followers. The  Prati Sarkar (प्रति सरकार) was to protest against the British police.

Most others of his age may have complaints associated with geriatrics. But not for Rambhau. He has sharp, clear and district memories about his personal life and in his journalistic career. 

The former Deputy Prime Minister Yeshwantrao Chavan (Right) often said publically that "Rambhau Joshi is my conscience keeper. " 

In a two-hour-long chat with me yesterday evening, for example, he could recall names of even three other activists who managed to escape the British police.

Similarly, He could tell me the details of the event when a gramophone company manager come from Mumbai to his house in Pune to invite him to record songs he had scripted as a lyricist.

Rambhau is respected as an author of eight award-winning volumes on the life and work of Yeshwantrao who went on to become Deputy Prime Minister and held important posts in the central and Maharashtra cabinets. 

Appa is an important member to shape the organizations of journalists, Pune Stramik Patrakar Sangh, its Maharashtra body, Pune Patrakar Pratishsthan, and Pune Patrakarnagar.

Yesteryears’ leading lights in politics, Marathi literature, classical music, and social work often frequent his apartment in Sindhu building of Pune’s Patrakarnagar housing society, to pay respect to him or exchange experiences. 

Rambhau rarely comes out of his house nowadays. He uses a walker. His eyesight is failing but he does not  need hearing aids as he can respond to conversation from a distance.
For some time, he has stopped reading newspapers and watching television programmes. But he loves to listen to classical music anytime.
Every day he spends some time with the family inquiring about the progress of granddaughter Radhika’s success in her college education and about the activities of other grandchildren residing elsewhere in the state.

The only pastime for him is to recite Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Maharaj’s preachings , He has maintained sound health with his frugal simple vegetarian diet, seasonal fruits, and two cups of tea in a day.
His sons, Sakshatkar and Samprasad, say Rambhau is delighted when visitors come calling or call him over the phone. Family members stop his prolonged chat only to ensure that it does not exhaust him.

It amazes visitors when told that he shaves with his favorite brand of razors. He shaves thrice a week.
Over the phone, he speaks with clarity and uses his rustic wit and humour for which he is known all his life.
Rambhau lost his life-companion Sumantai in 2012 leaving a void in his life. “It was because of her that I could achieve so much in my life. They say behind every successful man there is a woman. I experienced that all my life.”

Some highlights of his career:

·     Along with vocalist Bhimsen Joshi, Rambhau and other eminent music-lovers founded Arya Sangit Prasarak Sabha that organised the annual Sawai Gandharv Mahotsav for decades.
·     Rambhau’s zest for music and cultural activities can be traced to his scripting of Marathi songs decades ago. His talk shows, interviews were popular most-awaited broadcasts from Mumbai and Pune stations.

·         Appa was presented with scores of coveted awards and was felicitated by prestigious organisations in Maharashtra.

·   The importance of Rambhau in Maharashtra during the political, social and cultural life of the Yashwantrao Chavan Era was summed up when the veteran politician publicly stated many times
“Rambhau is my conscious keeper.”
·   How does he feel to be a centenarian now? ‘I have lived a very contented life as a journalist, author, and human being. I remain grateful to all the people who gave me love and affection in my journey of these hundred years’, Rambhau said politely.

..

drkiranthakur@gmail.com 

 KT's Random Stories
News. Features & Fiction

Marathi & English 

..

 Search Book on 

Print  Journalism in India
on the threshold of 21st century  

Beyond the Five Ws and One H: Story of A Good Samaritan

November 30, 2021 10:04 am

by Sheetal Akhade,

introduction by Dr. Kiran Thakur

\This is part of a three-feature case study on follow-up of a news story published by Pune Marathi daily Loksatta on 15th January 1990.  Sunil Kaduskar, then a 32-year-old reporter covered an accident in which an industrial worker died at a railway crossing while trying to save a 14-year-old deaf and dumb girl. She died because she could not hear the train whistle.

Mr.Sunil Kaduskar This case study includes the role of the Loksatta editorial functionaries to help the victim’s family from 1990 until now. Three journalism students of Vishwakarma University did a  follow-up of the 1990 story to write one feature each, in Marathi, English, and Hindi.  

What happens if a 14-year-old deaf and dumb girl is crushed to death because she could not hear the whistle of the speeding train? Within the same instant, an Ammunition Factory worker is knocked down trying unsuccessfully to save the girl from the jaws of death, on 15th January 1990.

Loksatta, 15 January, 1990

The two simultaneous deaths were witnessed by scores of onlookers waiting at the Wakadewadi railway crossing in Pune’s Shivajinagar. Nothing would have normally happened except for a two-paragraph news story in local newspapers. The two persons unknown to each other were nearly destined to remain confined to a drab police press note, not seeing the light of even a snippet in a Pune newspaper.

Loksatta, Editorial column

Destiny had, however, planned something different for the worker’s family. The police press note was handled by a reporter of Loksatta, a Marathi daily belonging to the Indian Express group of newspapers. He spent time and energy investigating the why and the who of the tragedy. It was not a case of a love-lorn couple as the onlookers and even the police thought initially.

It was a great sacrifice of a human being for an unknown girl whose fault was that she could not hear the train whistle. She attempted to cross a railway track like hundreds of others used to do every day on any given day earlier and later.

Loksatta News Story

The young reporter, Sunil Kaduskar (then 32 years old), did some legwork for a couple of days. He found out that the girl (Sujata Shankar Dhiwar) was on her way home from school. Kisan Kadam was a 35-year-old Ammunition Factory worker who jumped to save her, without thinking about his own life and the fate of his family members. For Sunil, it eventually turned out to be a story beyond the Five Ws, and One H: Who, What, where, when, why and H, the basics his journalism teacher had taught him in the media class.

Loksatta News Story

Writing a news story for Loksatta that evening,  he began thinking about Kisan Kadam’s sacrifice. Why did he have to do it? What would now happen to his family? His widow was a housemaid earning only a pittance every month. She now had to look after three kids and a handicapped brother. She would not afford even a ramshackle hut in a Wakadewadi slum.

Kaduskar discussed the situation with Resident Editor Anil Takalkar and Chief Editor Madhav Gadkari. He pleaded with them that Kisan’s was a supreme sacrifice on par with that of soldiers who lay down their lives on the battlefield.

Gadkari was a sensitive editor with a track record of taking up causes of the deserving downtrodden. He wrote a touching article in his weekly column ‘Chaufer’ urging the readers to help widow Vaijayanta, her two daughter, a son, and a handicapped brother. The family lived in the eight by eight hut in the slum along the train track. It would not afford even that space that now. Gadkari did not stop at making a mere newspaper appeal. He set up a fund-raising committee under his chairmanship and Kaduskar and Takalkar as the members. Indian Express Group Chairman and Managing Director Vivek Goenka initiated the drive with a donation of Rs. 25,000.00. Readers contributed spontaneously. Soon, the committee made an announcement in Loksatta columns that it would close the drive when the fund reached Rs 89,000.00. The same day an inmate of an Old-age Home (Mrs. Meera Gogate) rushed to the Loksatta office with a cheque of Rs. 11,000. She wanted the fund to reach a round figure of Rs One Lakh. She had experienced the grief of widowhood and wanted to help Vaijayanta during her critical period.

Kisan Kadam’s family

The overwhelming response from the newspaper drive and its readers prompted the factory management to give Vaijayantabai a class-four menial job on compassionate ground and provide her servants quarters. The management took up the responsibility of the education expenses of the children.

This was possible because of the support of the committee and the Loksatta team including the then General Manager, Mr. George Varghese, now Chief Executive officer,  The committee evolved a plan to disburse the fund judiciously to meet the needs of the family. Kaduskar came across Good Samaritans at every stage of his involvement with the family.

The committee invested Rs one lakh in a nationalised bank-run trusteeship company. The fund in the account grew to Rs eight lakhs in the course of the time. The committee helped the family invest in booking a flat which was ready recently. Expenses for the children’s weddings were available on time. Vaijayantabai’s family responsibilities were thus over before she is scheduled to retire in February 2022. Sunil Kaduskar is now a 63-year- old retired journalist. In his career, he must have covered scores of interesting and challenging journalistic assignments. Yet for him, Kisan’s was the most satisfying one that he would undoubtedly remember the rest of his life.

About the Author:

Sheetal Akhade is a student, Vishwakarma University, Pune.

Dr. Kiran Thakur is a Professor Emeritus & Director at VU Centre of Communication for Development, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Vishwakarma University

Beyond the Five Ws and One H: Story of A Good Samaritan

Dear Colleagues, 
This is part of a three-feature case study on follow-up of a news story published by Pune Marathi daily Loksatta on 15th January 1990.  Sunil Kaduskar, then a 32-year-old reporter covered an accident in which an industrial worker died at a railway crossing while trying to save a 14-year-old deaf and dumb girl. She died because she could not hear the train whistle.  This case study includes the role of the Loksatta editorial functionaries to help the victim’s family from 1990 until now. I had written a story of Kaduskar's good deeds in the Observer of Business Politics (now defunct) dated August 29, 1992. Three journalism students of Vishwakarma University did a  follow-up of the 1990 story to write one feature each, in Marathi, English and Hindi. I conceptualised a case study of a follow-up of the stories originally authored by Kaduskar and Kiran Thakur and now followed up in 2021, by my students, Sheetal Akhade, Pratiksha Jadhav, and Fatima Inamdar.

Beyond the Five Ws and One H
Story of A Good Samaritan 

( By Sheetal Akhade)

What happens if a 14-year-old deaf and dumb girl is crushed to death because she could not hear the whistle of the speeding train? Within the same instant, an Ammunition Factory worker is knocked down trying unsuccessfully to save the girl from the jaws of death, on   15 th January 1990.

The two simultaneous deaths were witnessed by scores of onlookers waiting at the Wakadewadi railway crossing in Pune’s Shivajinagar. Nothing would have normally happened except for a two-paragraph news story in local newspapers. The two persons unknown to each other were nearly destined to remain confined to a drab police press note, not seeing the light of even a snippet in a Pune newspaper. 

Destiny had, however, planned something different for the worker’s family. The police press note was handled by a reporter of Loksatta, a Marathi daily belonging to the Indian Express group of newspapers. He spent time and energy to investigate the why and the who of the tragedy. It was not a case of a love-lorn couple as the onlookers and even the police thought initially.

It was a great sacrifice of a human being for an unknown girl whose fault was that she could not hear the train whistle. She attempted to cross a railway track like hundreds others used to do every day on any given day earlier and later.

Sunil Kaduskar

The young reporter, Sunil Kaduskar (then 32 years old), did some legwork for a couple of days. He found out that the girl (Sujata Shankar Dhiwar) was on her way home from school. Kisan Kadam was 35-year-old Ammunition Factory worker who jumped to save her, without thinking about his own life and the fate of his family members.
For Sunil, it eventually turned out to be a story beyond the Five Ws, and One H: Who, What, where, when, why and H, the basics his journalism teacher had taught him in the media class.

Loksatta's original story

Writing a news story for Loksatta that evening,  he began thinking about Kisan Kadam’s sacrifice. Why did he have to do it? What would now happen to his family? His widow was a housemaid earning only a pittance every month. She now had to look after three kids and a handicapped brother. She would not afford even a ramshackle hut in a Wakadewadi slum.  

Kaduskar discussed the situation with Resident Editor Anil Takalkar and Chief Editor Madhav Gadkari. He pleaded with them that Kisan’s was a supreme sacrifice on par with that of soldiers who lay down their lives on the battlefield. 

Gadkari was a sensitive editor with a track record of taking up causes of the deserving downtrodden. He wrote a touching article in his weekly column ‘Chaufer’ urging the readers to help widow Vaijayanta, her two daughters, a son, and a handicapped brother. The family lived in the eight by eight hut in the slum along the train track. It would not afford even that space that now.
Gadkari did not stop at making a mere newspaper appeal. He set up a fund-raising committee under his chairmanship and Kaduskar and Takalkar as the members. Indian Express Group Chairman and Managing Director Vivek Goenka initiated the drive with a donation of Rs. 25,000.00. Readers contributed spontaneously.
Soon, the committee made an announcement in Loksatta columns that it would close the drive when the fund reached Rs 89,000.00. The same day an inmate of an Old-age Home (Mrs Meera Gogate) rushed to the Loksatta office with a cheque of Rs. 11,000. She wanted the fund to reach a round figure of Rs One Lakh. She had experienced the grief of widowhood and wanted to help Vaijayanta during her critical period. 

The overwhelming response from the newspaper drive and its readers prompted the factory management to give Vaijayantabai a class-four menial job on compassionate ground and provide her servants quarters. The management took up the responsibility of the education expenses of the children.
This was possible because of the support of the committee and the Loksatta team including the then General Manager, Mr George Varghese, now Chief Executive officer, The committee evolved a plan to disburse the fund judiciously to meet the needs of the family. Kaduskar came across Good Samaritans at every stage of his involvement with the family.
The committee invested Rs one lakh in a nationalised bank-run trusteeship company. The fund in the account grew to Rs eight lakhs in the course of the time.
The committee helped the family invest in booking a flat which was ready recently. Expenses for the children’s weddings were available on time. Vaijayantabais family responsibilities were thus over before she is scheduled to retire in February 2022. 

Sunil Kaduskar is now a 63-year- old retired journalist. In his career, he must have covered scores of interesting and challenging journalistic assignments. Yet for him, Kisan’s was the most satisfying one that he would undoubtedly remember the rest of his life.

--

News feature authored by:

Sheetal Akhade

BA Third Year (Journalism & Mass Communication)
Vishwakarma University, Pune
Email: sheetalakhade20@gmail.com 

--
This case study was conceptualised and edited by
Dr Kiran Thakur

Professor Emeritus
Director
VU Centre of Communication for Development
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Emails:

kiran.thakur@vupune.ac.in,

drkiranthakur@gmail.com

--

Acknowledgement

This case study could not have been possible without the help from Mr Sunil Kaduskar.
kaduskar.sunil@gmail.com

Editor Madhav Gadkari's column in Loksatta

Kiran Thakur's article in Observer of Business and Politics. August 29, 1992.

                                                             

Occasional Paper on Molesworth's 19th Century Marathi-English Dictionary

I am delighted to offer to you my occasional paper on James Thomas Molesworth, the editor of the Marathi-English Dictionary project that began in 1818 and has continued to date. Its type was produced in Calcutta two centuries ago; a litho press in Bombay published its first edition in 1831, and another offset press published a new edition in Pune in 1975. It has 920 pages carrying 60,000 words of the 19th century with English translation. In 2020, its digital format is now freely available to anyone anywhere as a website and as apps on smartphones. Please refer to https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/molesworth/

It is a fascinating story that has kept me writing for the last three years. I could release it for publication for Pune's Vishwakarma University's Journalism department in a PDF format with 84 pages of Marathi and English contents. The book is in PDF format and can be freely downloaded at http://vuccd.com/james-thomas-molesworth-marathi-english-dictionary-project. 

We brought out the publication to mark the 150th death anniversary on July 13, 2021. Please free to download the copy and distribute it among the lovers of the Marathi language.

USP's youtube Channel for Media and Communication Studies and allied Social Science subjects.

I am happy to inform you that Prof Dr Uma Shankar Pandey has started a very innovative and useful YouTube channel www.youtube.com/DrUSP for communication studies students. 

This has begun in the last week of October 2020 to provide teaching resources for students and scholars of Media and Communication Studies and allied Social Science subjects. 

In the last three months, he uploaded 25 videos to the channel. This is more than 16 hours of content uploaded on topics relating to Media and Communication Theory and Social Science Research.

Already there are about 400 subscribers to the channel at present. 

I do think this is a great output and great achievement for media teacher and scholar. 

It strikes me that Prof Dr Uma Shankar has initiated this activity during the Covid 19 phase when most of us were not sure how to do something productive for the community. In our case, for students and fellow teachers.

My compliments to him. 

I urge communication faculty and researchers to write to him and to likes of me about the utility of his endeavour. Let us spread the word around. 

Here, let me add a word that Prof Dr Ujjwala Barve, HoD , Savitribai Phule Pune University, has undertaken a similar activity. She has begun Marathi podcasts for Marathi students.

More about it soon.

--

Kiran Thakur

Three Idiots and a miracle

 

Three Idiots and a miracle

2020 was a crucial year and many lives took a drastic turn. All because of an unforeseen pandemic that no one was ready for. Even the nations that claimed themselves a super power, failed to safeguard the life of their citizens. India was no exception. Millions of helpless people were at the mercy of nature and destiny, waiting for a miracle to save them. This is the story of one such miracle.

Fear dwelt in everyone's heart that if they stepped out, they would probably end up in a hospital and fail to meet their loved ones again. But some fools, that's what others safely ensconced in the comfort of their homes preferred to call them, took it upon themselves to fight with their bare hands and loads of never say die spirit. To me they were the real superheroes wearing masks and PPE kits in the form of medical practitioners, law enforcement personnel, and faceless volunteers who stood up like a strong wall against the deadly first wave of adversity and made the country stand on its feet again.

Atharva Pangave ,Yash Deshpande and Hrishikesh Joshi, students of Journalism and Mass Communication, Vishwakarma University,  are all your boy-next-door types. But their feat is nothing short of an achievement. 

When opportunity came knocking to serve in a nearby quarantine centre, the three of them without so much as batting of an eyelid grabbed it with both their hands. Narrating about the day they stepped in the centre, Hrishikesh says, "We felt like we were heading for some big mission and that the whole nation was cheering for us". "We are training to be media professionals and while working as volunteers we realised what our faculty meant by dealing with raw emotions", added Atharva, “there were many patients of different age groups and the most difficult task was to calm them down and provide comfort to those who were scared”.  Yash said, “Our main job was to take a note of their body temperature and oxygen level and give this report to the doctor on daily basis, and also look after their food, medicines, hygiene and sanitation.”

“The job in the quarantine centre was not an easy part to play wearing the PPE kits throughout the day. One had to be mentally and physically prepared as the quarantine period lasted for 21 days, away from friends and family.” Hrishikesh recalled, “We volunteered for the first 14 days followed by 7 days of compulsory quarantine. We took covid test on the 6 th day of quarantine. Only if the results were negative we could go home but still had to maintain some distance from family members.”

The risks were big. But as I said, only idiots can think of creating miracles. All for a greater cause. To change the destiny of a nation.

About the Author :

Kunal Bodwade is a student of  Journalism & Mass Communication, BA, Third Year, Vishwakarma University Centre of Communication for Development, Pune. His article was short-listed as an entry in the Empowerment Story Competition organised in December 2020 by the University.

 We Beat The Odds

                    Heroic efforts of health workers in a time of deadly virus 

COVID-19 pandemic outbreak was a huge turning point for small businesses worldwide as they were ordered to shut and stay at home. Work from home was not possible for the pharmacists, doctors and nurses. Pharmacy professionals performed the frontline role. With the orders to stay at home, people went with their long lists of medicines to stock for the whole month. It was a great pressure to keep up with the needs of the customers as never before came a situation like this where they had to stock up medicines in such huge quantities.                                                                                                                                                                               These professionals went beyond their limits for their customers’ needs. To manage social distancing and avoid crowding at their doors, they started delivering the medicine orders at the door steps. It was getting difficult day by day to cope up with the demands because with increasing number of affected patients, the helpers went on leaves or left their jobs fearing for their lives. This decrease in the number of workers affected the whole scenario. The production of medicine in huge number with less workers was a challenge. Then the distribution of medicines from markets to shops was also affected. This led to the shortage of medicines and angry customers.                                                                                                                                                                                             With this situation, getting worse day by day, people started calling and reminding of their orders multiple times a day which was very disturbing to concentrate on the customers standing in the pharmacies. But keeping the situation in mind, there was no other way out and this was how it was going to be.                                                                                                                                                                                         All these apart, wearing face masks, face shields and gloves all day was not less than a punishment. Masks all day on was so suffocating that it made the body oxygen level down many times and even it became the cause of blacking out. Wearing mask was never a practise before so this was also a new normal which was not less than punishment as well, said a medical practitioner.                                                                                                                                                                 So when people got awareness about the masks, vitamin c tablets, zinc tablets, arsenic granules and etc, there was an increase in its demand which ended up short in markets. New products came up which were costlier than the usual ones and this offended the buyers as they were to take these medicine doses regularly and needed to wear those masks daily. Persuading everyone that the contents are same, names are different and reasoning each and everyone was also mind bursting. Dealing with patients and customers all day was also risky for the pharmacists as many times they got affected which ended up closing their shops and paying for the hospital bills and medicines. This was the loss for them.                                                                                                                                                                                                    To sum up the above situation, the world is going through an immense amount of changes which after all is the only constant phenomenon of the dimension of time and space. It’s time we recognise the efforts of the people who stood up against all odds in the time of need and put their life at threat just that our life keeps moving, the civilisation may keep running on its wheels. These people and however small may their contribution be, deserves all the respect and tribute as our countrymen and sparkles like a gem on the heart of humanity!  

About the author:

Meghaa Mazumdar is a student of Journalism & Mass Communication, BA, First Year, Vishwakarma University Centre of Communication for Development, Pune.                         Her article was short-listed as an entry in the Empowerment Story Competition organised in December 2020 by the University.                                                                                                                                                                          

A Documentary Filmmaker’s Odyssey; A Unique Commemorative Calendar

 

A Documentary Filmmaker’s Odyssey
A Unique Commemorative Calendar

I was saddened by the black and white images of Lal Bahadur Shastri’s last living picture after his death on January 11, 1966. Millions of Indian newspaper readers saw the pictures later. Like these readers, I too did not know the name of the photographer then. Years later, I came to know the name of Prem Vaidya(February 26, 1927 – July 10, 2014) from his son Abhay who was a student of the Department of Communication and Journalism in Pune. I was his teacher in the department and became his colleague as a newspaper journalist. Later, I frequented his house in Navi Peth to see his parents, Pramila and Prem while Abhay worked for newspapers like The Times of India, DNA and recently, Hindustan Times.

Like Abhay, his father was also a man of few words. He had settled in Pune after retirement from the central government’s Films Division where he had worked as a documentary filmmaker and captured so many great events in post-independence Indian history. Their cosy little apartment was a storehouse of a rich treasure of documentaries, photographs, clippings and books. Abhay and his mother obviously knew the value of the treasure. After the death of the parents, Abhay, his journalist wife Geeta Nair, and sisters Meghana Sane and Anuradhaa Shastri, along with their husbands Vivek and Veer bhaskar, set up the Pramila & Prem Vaidya Archive.

The family has occasionally organised some activities to let the people have a peek into the treasure. Abhay, now Associate Director at the policy research think tank, Pune International Centre, and has brought out something that is path-breaking.

This 10^th January, we were delighted to see that historic photograph of Lal Bahadur Shastri, in an innovative format conceptualized by Abhay: It is precious memorabilia, a commemorative calendar for the year 2021,with 20 black and white photographs of great personalities and historic events of the 19th century. His concept centres around a theme ‘I for India: Strong, Resilient and Compassionate.’

And what a selection of the events documented by Prem Vaidya!
This collection includes the birth of a new nation called Bangladesh in 1971 and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s speech in Dacca (now Dakha) after the surrender of Pakistan. Prem Vaidya had filmed the historic 1971 war for the Government of India, just as he had covered the 1965 war in the western sector.

The collection of rare, historic photographs in the commemorative calendar, includes Bharat Ratnas and Prime Ministers, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, LalBahadur Shastri, and great newsmakers of Prem's time, JRD Tata, Veer Savarkar, PuLaDeshpande, Sir Edmund Hillary, Yuri Gagarin, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Sir M Vishveswaraya and Jaya Prakash Narayan.

Prem was a member of Prime Minister Shastri’s delegation to Tashkent for the India-Pakistan Peace Talks and the historic photograph was taken on the night of January 10, 1966 when Shastriji was taking his after-dinner paces inside his dacha (villa).

A photojournalist or a documentary filmmaker generally tries to avoid getting photographed. Prem Vaidya, who was in this profession for over 31 years must have had scores of occasions to get into the camera frames. But at times he was also a part of history

.

Among them was this one, that Prem happily allowed himself to be clicked. Abhay was justified to include it in this commemorative calendar. In this photograph, Prem is seen wearing a belt of live machine-gun cartridges from a captured Pakistani tank. The victorious Indian soldiers garlanded him thus because, as they said, “they had nothing else to offer at that point of time!” That was the epic tank battle of Phillora in the Sialkot sector. It was the second biggest tank battle since World War II. More than 60 Pakistani tanks were destroyed by the Indian forces. Here he was to record that stunning victory of the Indian armed forces.

My compliments to Abhay’s team who contributed to the novel memorabilia. Designer Prof Dr Nachiket Thakur and Pandurang Khutwad (Design Execution) and Vilas Avachat (Photo reproduction). The calendar also features Jagasha (www.jagasha.com ), a startup enterprise that seeks to empower rural women through the sale of their hand-crafted products; www.BluplantIndia.com , a multimedia convergence startup and www.Inkinmyveins.com   , a content development startup.

The calendar is available in two formats: An A3 size collector’s edition on textured matt paper, priced at Rs 300/- and a foldable art paper edition priced at Rs. 160/-. Printed by Krishna Printers, Aundh Road, Pune it is available for sale at the stationery superstore, Venus Traders on FC Road and at Express Book Service, Pune’s oldest bookshop on East Street, Camp. 

Abhay and his family members are keen to make this inspiring calendar available to the young people of India and are taking efforts to reach out to students in higher secondary classes and junior colleges. They feel that this calendar with inspiring images from Indian history should be there in their classrooms and the library as they learn history from the textbooks.

The commemorative calendar will be a unique gift to friends and relatives interested in memorabilia that can adorn walls at homes, classrooms, and offices. It is available at the retail outlets mentioned above, or you may write directly to Abhay at abhayvaidya.ht@gmail.com

--

Kiran Thakur

Professor Emeritus
Vishwakarma University Centre of Communication for Development
drkiranthakur@gmail.com  

Slug-  कोरोनाच्या महामारित डॉक्टरांची मेहनत……

Author- फातिमा इस्माईल इनामदार.

BAjmc sy (3rd year)

9653660036.

Date line- नोव्हेंबर,३०-२०२० सांगली.

Headline- कोरोनासोबत डॉक्टरांचा लढा…..

By line- फातिमा इस्माईल इनामदार.

Authors Initials- F.I.I.

About the author:.   Fatima Ismail Inamdar  is a student of  Journalism & Mass Communication, BA, Second 2nd Year, Vishwakarma University Centre of Communication for Development, Pune. His article was short-listed  as an entry  in the Empowerment Story Competition organised in December 2020 by the University.

  सर्वत्र कोरोनाची महामारी पसरली असता आपल्या काही सुपरहिरोंनी खूप चांगले काम केले. तसेच सांगली जिल्ह्यात असणार्‍या शिराळा तालुक्यातील डॉ. नितीन जाधव व त्यांच्या सहकारी कर्मचार्‍यांनी खूप मोलाचे काम केले.
  आपल्या देशात विविध प्रकारच्या देवांना मानले जाते, त्याच बरोबर डॉक्टरांनाही लोक दुसरा देव म्हणतात. 2020 हे वर्ष पूर्णपणे कठीण परिस्थितींनी भरलेले आहे. तरीही डॉक्टरांनी या महामारीच्या विरोधात चांगल्याच प्रकारे लढा दिला.
  डॉ. नितीन जाधव यांचे वय 52 वर्ष. त्यांनी एम. बी. मेडिसिन असे शिक्षण घेतले आहे. तसेच आनंद नावाचे त्यांचे स्वतःचे हॉस्पिटल आहे. त्यांच्या कुटुंबामध्ये दोन मुली व त्यांची पत्नी असे एकूण चार सदस्य आहेत. कोरोनाच्या या महामारीमध्ये त्यांनाही सामान्य लोकांप्रमाणे सुरवातीला भीती वाटली. पण नंतर जागतिक संशोधन, तसेच इतर बाजू समजल्या. त्याचबरोबर त्यांचे शिराळा तालुक्यातील उपजिल्हा रुग्णालयामध्ये सरकारतर्फे पोस्टिंग झाल्याने कोरोना रुग्णांसाठी काम केल्यानंतर माझी भीती निघून गेली, असे डॉ. नितीन जाधव म्हणतात.
कोरोना रुग्णालयामध्ये काम करण्यासोबत ते त्यांच्या दवाखान्यामध्ये देखील काम करत. दिवसाच्या 24 तासांपैकी 14 तास ते काम करत. कोरोना रुग्णांचा उपचार करत असताना त्यांना पी.पी.ई किट, तसेच लागणारी सर्व औषधे, डॉक्टरांची वेळोवेळी तपासणी, त्याचबरोबर विविध टेस्ट घेण्यासाठी लागणार्‍या मशीन सरकार वेळोवेळी पाठवत आहे. या सर्व महामारीत सरकारने काही चांगले निर्णय घेतले, असे डॉ. जाधव म्हणतात.
  बाधितांचा उपचार करताना मुख्यतः ब्लड टेस्ट करत. त्याचबरोबर ब्लड शुगर, किडणी फंक्शन्स, सीआरपी, एलडीएच , रॅपिड ऍन्टीजन व आर.टी.पी. सी आर या मुख्य प्रमाणावर घेतल्या जाणार्‍या टेस्ट आहेत. या रुग्णालयात त्यांच्या सोबत काही एम बी बी एस, बी एच इतर स्टाफ हे सर्व सहकारी होते. या रुग्णालयात त्यांनी 800 रुग्णांचा उपचार केला. त्यापैकी 95 ते 96% कोरोनापिडीत रुग्ण बरे झाले.
  आपल्याला साधारण पणे सर्दी,खोकला, ताप हे होताच असतो.पण यासोबत अंग दुखणे, दम लागणे, तोंडाची चव जाणे,कोणताही सुगंध ओळखता न येणे, पचन प्रक्रिया बिघडणे ही सर्व लक्षणे आढळल्यास तो कोरोना आहे हे स्पष्ट होते.
  सरकारने कोरोनाचा उपचार करण्यास सोपे जावे व रुग्ण लवकर बरा व्हावा म्हणून एक प्रोटोकॉल तयार केला आहे. माईल्ड केसेस, मॉडर्न केसेस व सिरियस केसेस हे विभाग बनवले आहेत. माईल्ड केसेस मध्ये रुग्णांना औषधे, व्हिटॅमिन झिंकच्या गोळ्या दिल्या जात. मॉडर्न केसेस मध्ये रुग्णांना इंजेक्शन दिले जात. तसेच सिरीयर केसेस मध्ये रुग्णाला सलाईन लावणे व इतर उपचार केले जात. यानंतर रुग्णांना होम क्वारंटाइन करुन रुग्णालयामार्फत औषधे पोहोचवण्यात आली.
   कोरोना होऊन गेल्यानंतर त्या रुग्णाला पुन्हा कोरोना होण्याची शक्यता खूप क्षुल्लक प्रमाणावर असते. सहसा कोरोना पुन्हा होत नाही. अलिकडे कोरोना रुग्णांचे प्रमाण कमी झाले आहे. सध्या कोरोना वाढण्याची संभावना खूप कमी आहे असे डॉ. जाधव यांचे म्हणने आहे.
  कोरोना वाढू नये म्हणून लोकांनी शारीरिक अंतर पाळणे, मास्क व्यवस्थित लावणे, गर्दी न करणे, सॅनिटायझरचा वापर करणे असे काही स्वतःहून नियम पाळायला हवेत, असे डॉ. जाधव म्हणतात. लोक काही पथ्य पाळत नाहीत, खोकताना, शिंकताना काळजी घेत नाहीत, याची डॉ. नितीन जाधव यांना खंत वाटते.
हे सामाजिक कार्य करून, या कोरोना रूग्णांना बरे करून मोठ्या प्रमाणावर मनाची शांती लाभली. ‘जनसेवा हीच ईश्वरसेवा’, असे डॉ. नितीन जाधव मानतात.

     

No of words- 451

Attachment- photographs.

Caption- 1] डॉ. नितीन जाधव सहकारी कर्मचाऱ्यांसोबत कोरोना रुग्णांचा उपचार करताना.