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Doctor on the street

Updated on: 05 July,2020 07:05 AM IST  |  Mumbai
Meher Marfatia |

The vital contributions of leading Bombay physicians and surgeons have been honoured with roads named after them. Two doctors are engaged in a fascinating documentation

Doctor on the street

Kashibai Navrange Marg in Gamdevi honours Dr Kashibai Navrange, the first Indian woman doctor to open her own clinic in Bhuleshwar. PIC/SURESH KARKERA

Meher MarfatiaAs Dr Anita Borges pulled out of the compound of Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, a rash motorist almost hit her car. Belligerently, he posed in Hindi every Bombayite's oft heard question, "You think this is your father's road?" Sweetly pointing to the signboard right there, announcing Dr Ernest Borges Marg, the eminent histopathologist retorted, "Of course." And drove off, leaving behind what Dr Sunil Pandya describes as "a puzzled, but steaming individual".


A veteran neurosurgeon from KEM and Jaslok hospitals, Pandya balances such chuckle-worthy episodes with weighty nuggets of information, in collaboration with Dr Sanjay Pai, consultant pathologist and Head of Pathology at Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Bengaluru. Their unusual compilation offers a record of roads named after city physicians and surgeons.


Kashibai Navrange Marg in Gamdevi honours Dr Kashibai Navrange
Kashibai Navrange Marg in Gamdevi honours Dr Kashibai Navrange, the first Indian woman doctor to open her own
clinic in Bhuleshwar. She floated a Milk Fund in 1916 for pregnant and lactating mothers, under the auspices of the Arya Mahila Samaj


"The genesis of this project lies in two unconnected events," says Pai. "On a 2006 trip to Canada, I was struck by the manner in which Montreal has honoured its greatest sons in medicine—William Osler and Wilder Penfield—with Promenade Sir William Osler and Dr Penfield Avenue."

Pai subsequently spotted an article in an American medical journal on roads commemorating doctors of Rome. When he shared this with Pandya, his senior colleague, Pandya and his wife Shubha sent him a similar listing. "Wondering about an Indian equivalent, we chose the city we know best. I'm Bombayite by birth, education and more," says Pai. "The constraints of clinical work made us sit on the idea without access to fresh names." Pandya adds, "We discovered difficulties cataloguing street names. Once, the Bombay Telephone Directory would provide a list with past and present names in separate columns."

Under the auspices of the Arya Mahila Samaj—seen below is the Samaj-run women’s hostel on this street. Pic/Suresh Karkera & Dr Navrange Courtesy Hemlata Shilpi
Arya Mahila Samaj - the Samaj-run women's hostel on this street. Pic/Suresh Karkera & Dr Navrange Courtesy Hemlata Shilpi. PIC/SURESH KARKERA & DR NAVRANGE COURTESY HEMLATA SHILPI

The team now looks forward to finishing work on their manuscript with helpful additions from people. Brief bio sketches highlight the stellar contributions of doctors to the city they graced. The authors embellish a solid level of medical detail with quirky anecdotal style. As Pai declares, "History is fun. This is a novel way to remember doctors who contributed importantly to society."

Streets commemorating doctors are not always those they resided on. Exceptions include Dr GV Deshmukh, whose bungalow stood on Pedder Road (originally acknowledging the 1879 municipal commissioner, WG Pedder), which is renamed Gopalrao Deshmukh Marg. Dr Rajabali Patel's residence also nestled against a rockface in the lane attributed to him, opposite Breach Candy Hospital. "It would be nice to explore roads on which doctors actually lived, try and meet their family members and other senior citizens there, who may have memories enlightening us," says Pandya.

Dr Sunil Pandya and Dr Sanjay Pai (right), the collaborators researching streets named after Bombay
Dr Sunil Pandya and Dr Sanjay Pai (right), the collaborators researching streets named after Bombay's foremost physicians and surgeons

39 Pedder Road was the address of the extraordinary Deshmukh, responsible for three radical women's rights laws, co-founding the Indian Medical Association, becoming Bombay's first mayor post-1947 and the force behind KEM Hospital. On his urging Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas' descendants for support, GS Medical College opened in 1926, its motto echoing ethics of the day: "Non sibi, sed omnibus—Not for self, for all."

Gandhiji's trusted physician, Patel donated the Non-Cooperation Movement R50,000. Khaddar-clad lifelong, he exemplified nationalism. In 1913, when the British Governor gave his nod to establishment of an institution paralleling the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Patel pointedly dropped the prefix "Royal" and the CPS (College of Physicians and Surgeons) was born.

Cafe Madras, the iconic Udupi restaurant on Bhau Daji Road in Matunga. Credited with pioneering research on Indian drugs as leprosy cures
Cafe Madras, the iconic Udupi restaurant on Bhau Daji Road in Matunga. Credited with pioneering research on Indian drugs as leprosy cures

Dr Bhau Daji Lad, the city's first Indian Sheriff, lent his name in 1975 to what used to be called Victoria and Albert Museum, in Byculla, for which he was a key fundraiser. Inexplicable why the physician and surgeon credited with pioneering research on Indian drugs as leprosy cures has a road paying him tribute in Matunga—far from Girgaum-Chowpatty where he and his brother Narayan performed more operations in the 1850s than British doctors. "How do BMC officials decide which road should get assigned in memory of a specific doctor?" Pandya asks. "Gone are the times when roads were named for meritorious individuals, not tiddly-pom characters. That selection could never be challenged then."

A fixture on Dr Bhau Daji Lad Road that is the personal favourite of both doctors is Cafe Madras (no confusion with Madras Cafe). The Udupi eatery remains an alternate Sunday breakfast adda for Dr Pandya with an engineer friend and holds appeal for two generations of Pais. "I frequented King's Circle in the 1980s and '90s for material from pavement booksellers," Pai recollects. "Serving delicious pesarattu and ulundhu dosai with coffee, this place was perfect to browse through newly acquired books. I raved about it for years. One evening, dad said, 'Let's go there.' He, mom, my grandfather and I set off. On reaching, dad exclaimed, 'Hey, it's my 1950s haunt, when I was in Ruia and KEM!' That it was on the road named after Bhau Daji, a fellow of Grant Medical College, like Sunil and me, proved more delightful."

Dr Bhau Daji Lad was also the city’s first Indian sheriff. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar & courtesy Dr Sunil Pandya
Dr Bhau Daji Lad was also the city's first Indian sheriff. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar & courtesy Dr Sunil Pandya

Some illustrious careers have particularly impressed each writer. Pai's hero and the subject of his independent research is Dr Vasant Ramji Khanolkar, whose name marks the east Parel junction, Khanolkar Chowk. "Training in London, VR Khanolkar was India's first qualified MD pathologist," Pai says. "He was Professor of Pathology at Grant Medical College, GS Medical-KEM Hospital and, finally, Director of Laboratories at Tata Memorial Hospital. A world leader in the 1950s and '60s in the diverse fields of cancer and leprosy, he ranks among the country's foremost researchers. By happy coincidence, I'm an alumnus of Grant and Tata Memorial, and was on the Tata Memorial staff, too. I worked a year at KEM Hospital as well."

Devouring Persian literature in the library of his army surgeon father as a boy, Khanolkar had a brilliant academic run. He came to be considered the complete pathologist, not just for diagnostics in his specialised field, but equally fine understanding of biophysics and biochemistry. Among epidemiological findings of distinction, he showed a skin cancer form, from the friction of tightly wound dhotis and noted the wide incidence of breast cancer among Parsis. As an educator, he advised pupils: "You will be told that life and death hang on your slightest movement. All this is moonshine. Our profession is like any other. It can be made noble if the men and women practising it, accomplish their task with courage, fortitude and selflessness."

Dr Dominic A D
Dr Dominic A D'Monte and Dr Cecilia Rose D’Monte from one of Bandra's most prominent families, each contributed distinctively to both public health and civic welfare activities

Pandya's salaams go to Dr Borges and Dr VN Shirodkar, though it is a Dr RK Shirodkar mentioned on a midtown road sign. Unconnected with medicine, RK Shirodkar seems to be saluted for promoting the education of mill workers' children. "Dr Ernest Borges taught clinical surgery every Saturday at Tata Memorial, which I attended as a postgraduate student at JJ Hospital," says Pandya. "Dr VN Shirodkar taught at my alma mater, Grant Medical College. I recollect his lectures vividly. Introducing the Shirodkar Stitch, which prevented foetus loss in women prone to spontaneous abortion, he gained popular international fame after his operation on Sophia
Loren in Rome."

The lasting public welfare achievements of a legendary doctor-philanthropist couple christened D'Monte Park Road in Bandra. Dr DA D'Monte, the grandfather of journalist Darryl D'Monte, donated massive adjacent plots of land for the Salsette Society and 1935-founded Bandra Gymkhana. Besides MD, LRCP, LRCS, FRIPH, FCPS, LM & S appended to his name, Dominic Anaclete D'Monte was Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great, a Member of the Municipal Corporation of Bombay and President of the Municipality of Bandra.

Dr Vasant Ramji Khanolkar, India
Dr Vasant Ramji Khanolkar, India's first qualified MD pathologist, became a global figure in the mid-20th century for his remarkable research strides in diseases as diverse as cancer and leprosy. Pic courtesy/Dr Sanjay Pai

His gynaecologist wife, Dr Cecilia Rose D'Monte, enjoyed high regard in the early 20th century, being the first Indian chief medical officer at Cama and Albless Hospital, and first woman appointed to the Bombay Medical Council. House surgeons of the hospital she was devoted to, have her R16,000 grant to thank for hostel quarters on campus, a facility she championed.

D'Monte's obstetrician contemporary, Dr Kashibai Navrange, was as much a social reformer by soul. The first Indian woman doctor to open her own clinic in Bhuleshwar, the street named after her is tucked in a quiet part of Gamdevi. Naturalists presume the former name of Kashibai Navrange Marg—Alexandra Road—alludes to Alexandrian laurel (Sultan Champa, or Surangi in Marathi) evergreens bordering it.

Dr Ernest Borges, the esteemed cancer surgeon dedicated to Parel
Dr Ernest Borges, the esteemed cancer surgeon dedicated to Parel's legendary Tata Memorial Hospital from its inception in 1941 to 1969, remains a role model for generations. Pic courtesy/The director, Tata Memorial Hospital

A quainter allusion to the botanic avatar of Kashibai Navrange Marg comes from Samuel T Sheppard's seminal work, Bombay Place-names and Street-names: "Alexandra Road is one of a little group in Gamdevi owing names to the species of tree planted along them: Laburnum Road, Alexandra Road and Cirrus Avenue. Everyone knows laburnum flowers, but the writer will not be alone in confessing he has no idea what a Cirrus or Alexandra look like. The Queen-Mother may be thought to be the Alexandra referred to. She is presumably godmother to the tree and gives her name by that indirect method to the road."

Pai and Pandya's comprehensive focus on those advancing the cause of medicine and safeguarding citizens' health is supplemented with photographs and geographic locations on Google Map reproductions. Pandya concludes, "We hope to broaden our scope to study doctors after whom Bombay streets are named, instead of the other way round."

Dr Rajabali Patel was among Gandhiji’s band of most trusted physicians. Pic courtesy/Sayani family
Dr Rajabali Patel was among Gandhiji’s band of most trusted physicians. Pic courtesy/Sayani family

Streets commemorating doctors are not always those they resided on. Exceptions include Dr GV Deshmukh, whose bungalow stood on Pedder Road (originally acknowledging the 1879 municipal commissioner, WG Pedder), which is renamed Gopalrao Deshmukh Marg. Dr Rajabali Patel's residence also nestled against a rockface in the lane attributed to him, opposite Breach Candy Hospital

Author-publisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay. You can reach her at mehermarfatia@gmail.com/www.meher marfatia.com

To share information about Bombay streets named after doctors, contact: sanjayapai@gmail.com /shunil3@gmail.com

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