Dr. Sneh Bhargava: ‘Stay current, drop your frowns’
At 95, the first and the only woman director of AIIMS says ‘not possible’ is not part of her vocabulary
Dr. Sneh Bhargava, the first and only woman director of AIIMS.
| Photo Credit:
Sushil Kumar Verma
Last year, during the release of her debut book, The Woman Who Ran AIIMS, the 95-year-old Dr. Sneh Bhargava sat for an hour-long interview without a trace of fatigue or even a sip of water. “Don’t worry, I love interacting with people,” she kept saying with a smile.
Dr. Bhargava is the first and the only woman director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Appointed by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, she took charge on October 31, 1984, the day Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated.
The nonagenarian tenaciously resists stereotypes. She lives by herself in Delhi (her daughter stays nearby) but does not confine herself to a life of solitude.
Dr. Sneh Bhargava took charge of AIIMS the day then PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated, and was brought to her.
| Photo Credit:
Sushil Kumar Verma
“Every Saturday, you will find me at AIIMS discussing difficult cases with the resident doctors. Twice a week, I am at Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, for CME (continuing medical education) classes and to spend time with my friends in the doctor’s lounge, gossiping over chai,” she says.
Enjoying a good life has always been high on her agenda, says Dr. Bhargava. “It’s a blessing to live long and healthy; I have everything I could have wished for — an extremely satisfying work life, lovely family, wonderful friends. I wake up each morning with a smile and lead my life with gratitude,” she adds.
Her ingrained optimism is one of her greatest qualities. “I keep myself active, reading, solving sudoku and crossword puzzles. From any project to a party, the words ‘not possible’ do not exist in my dictionary,” she says.
Dr. Sneh Bhargava’s debut book is The Woman Who Ran AIIMS (2024).
| Photo Credit:
Sushil Kumar Verma
Though the Delhi winter, pollution, and sarcopenia (progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass) are testing, this doctor is not one to be bogged down. Guided by a physiotherapist, she exercises daily for 30 minutes to strengthen her core muscles. She eats fresh and on time. “I’m conscious of nutritious food; I have fresh juices, veggies; dal and eggs for protein.”
Her boundless excitement for life is visible in her style. “I love to dress for the weather,” she says, showing her favourite colourful summery kaftans. “Winterwear is usually trousers, pullover, and a long overcoat,” she says, not forgetting to mention her platform heels and a dash of lipstick.
“Stay current, drop your frowns and negativity, and keep your sense of humour,” she advocates.
By Soma Basu
Soma Basu is a senior journalist based in Delhi.
Krishnammal Jagannathan: ‘The heart should be pure’
At 99, the Gandhian social activist is guided by love, nonviolence, and a life in activism
Krishnammal Jagannathan at the workers’ home adjacent to Gandhigram Rural Institute in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.
| Photo Credit:
Mohan Tanisk
Krishnammal Jagannathan is reading on a quiet afternoon in the workers’ home adjacent to Gandhigram Rural Institute in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. On days such as these, when the wind makes the millet fields nearby hiss, the 99-year-old Gandhian thinks of the people closest to her heart: her mother Nagammal, social reformer Dr. T.S. Soundaram Ramachandran, and non-violence and human rights advocate Vinoba Bhave.
Social activism has kept her physically and emotionally healthy. She walked the length and breadth of India with Bhave as a part of the Bhoodan Movement; fought for land and dignity of landless Dalit women labourers as the co-founder of NGO Land for Tillers’ Freedom (LAFTI); worked on the field at Keezhvenmani after the 1968 massacre of 44 Dalit men, women, and children.
In her now-shaky but resonant voice, she shares her life story. Her daughter Dr. Sathya Jagannathan, a paediatrician at Gandhigram Institute of Rural Health, condenses it for us. “When I wake up at 4 a.m. every day, I look at the morning star in the sky. I would think of it as a lamp lit by the universe, and pray to it to guide me through the day,” says Krishnammal. She attributes her calm state of mind to this practice.
Krishnammal and her late husband Sankaralingam Jagannathan co-founded the NGO Land for Tillers’ Freedom (LAFTI) in 1981.
| Photo Credit:
Mohan Tanisk
She and her late Gandhian and social activist husband Sankaralingam Jagannathan would start the day at 4 a.m., spin the charkha for an hour or two, followed by prayers. She says, “Prayer, the spinning wheel, and love for fellow human beings have been my guiding philosophy.”
Krishnammal still draws strength from her social-work experiences as a schoolgirl under Dr. Soundaram, rescuing house-imprisoned widowed girls to give them education and a shot at a better life.
She has never stopped working since; fighting for someone or the other. Which is perhaps why, as she approaches 100, her mind is all the more razor-sharp.
Krishnammal Jagannathan served Mahatma Gandhi as a student at The American College in Madurai.
| Photo Credit:
Mohan Tanisk
Memories nourish Krishnammal. She rarely forgets; her mind often replays some of her best days. For instance, the three days she spent as a student serving Mahatma Gandhi at The American College in Madurai, where she got to hold his hand; and the day she made dosas for Martin Luther King Jr. when he visited Gandhigram. For a long, happy life, keep harsh thoughts at bay, she says, “The heart should be pure at all times.”
By Akila Kannadasan
akila.k@thehindu.co.in
Bhagwani Devi Dagar: ‘I will play as long as I live’
Gold-winning world champion athlete Bhagwani Devi Dagar, 98, aka ‘Champion Dadi’ of Delhi’s Najafgarh lives to run
World Masters Athletics Championships 2022 gold medallist sprinter, Bhagwani Devi Dagar. Then 94, she won two bronze medals for India at the sports event in Finland.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Ahead of her 98th birthday on January 1, Bhagwani Devi Dagar sat in her living room, in a vibrant pink tracksuit and woollen beanie. “I have won all the medals at home and in the world,” the nonagenarian athlete says with pride. “Jab tak jiyungi, tab tak khelungi (I will play as long as I live).”
On spotting the camera, her eyes sparkle, she corrects her posture and playfully urges the cameraman to “take good pictures”.
The Delhi (Najafgarh) resident holds a national record in the 100m sprint, clocking 24.74 seconds, winning a gold at the 2022 World Masters Athletics Championships in Finland at age 94. In July 2023, she made it to the Guinness World Records as the oldest competitive shot-putter (female), at 95 years and 185 days. Her age was verified on India’s Got Talent reality TV show, in which she appeared after winning gold at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championship in Poland in April 2023.
Bhagwani Devi Dagar, 98, at her house in Najafgarh, Delhi.
| Photo Credit:
Tayyab Hussain S.M.
Hailing from Haryana, ‘Champion Dadi’ attributes her robust health to a rustic regimen. “In my formative years, I partook liberally of the rich ghee and milk my father’s buffaloes yielded,” she recalls.
Unaided, she ascends and descends the stairs to her room on the first floor; and walks a few kilometres daily. “A glass of milk twice daily” is the secret to her vitality, she confides.
Widowed at 30, she single-handedly raised her now-retired son, who was employed at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Hardships fuelled her resolve to live.
Long before her grandson Vikas Dagar, a para athlete with an impressive tally of 24 international and national medals, introduced her to the world of sports in 2022, Bhagwani Devi underwent a major open-heart bypass surgery in 2007. Two years ago, she underwent an angioplasty. In 2023, at the 22nd Asian Masters Athletics Championship in the Philippines, though she walked to the ground with a stick, she won three golds.
Sports has given her life a purpose, her grandson notes, adding that she is quite social for her age. During the day, she spends time with her great grandchildren and in the evenings she hangs out with the neighbourhood women. She has a couple of friends, all younger to her. Last month, she visited the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and was also seen dancing at a family wedding. “For her, life is a celebration and her philosophy is to live in the present,” says Vikas.
In July 2023, Bhagwani Devi Dagar made it to the Guinness World Records as the oldest competitive shot-putter (female), at 95 years and 185 days.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy Instagram
Bhagwani Devi Dagar will next run the Delhi State Masters Athletics Championship 2025-26 on January 4.
By Ashok Kumar
ashok.kumar@thehindu.co.in
Rajendra Prasad: ‘Happy because I have no debt’
The Delhi businessman, 90, advices young people to save for the surprises of old age
Businessman Rajendra Prasad at his Delhi home.
| Photo Credit:
Ashna Butani
On his 90th birthday on January 1, Rajendra Prasad shared a pizza with his great-grandchildren. The Delhi-based businessman doesn’t deprive himself of an indulgence on special occasions; and the occasional namkeen or samosa. The rest of the year, he is committed to his soup, vegetables, and evening snack — an apple.
The man of few words says, “I go to my office in the afternoons out of habit. I’ve been going to the office for 63 years.” His wife and son concur that staying busy keeps him emotionally and physically healthy.
Every now and then, he takes a trip down memory lane. His otherwise shaky voice amps up when he speaks about his coin collection. It comprises coins from a 1972 Europe trip, to an anna — used as a currency unit in British India — that would buy him a plate of poori sabzi or a film ticket back in the day, he recalls.
“I would save up two annas for the first-day, first-show of Raj Kapoor’s and Madhubala’s films,” he says, while his wife and son chime in to say that films like Awara (1951) and Sangam (1964) are still played at home.
An earlier birthday celebration of Rajendra Prasad.
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
When asked if he is happy with the life that he has lived, he laughs and says, “I am happy because I have no debt.” He advises younger generations, “Plan your finances, spend wisely, because old age is full of surprises.”
One of the hardest things about entering his 90s is the absence of many of his close friends, who have passed away. But his family keeps him engaged, he says, with a smile. “When my great-grandchildren come over, we watch cricket together.” It’s the little things that keep him going.
By Ashna Butani
ashna.butani@thehindu.co.in
