Agent of ‘honour’ after death

Once, he received death threats from crematorium priests and was termed as anti-religion by some people for promoting the concept of body donation. Today, after 26 years, Ramesh Satpute receives awards and recognition for GETTING 111 bodies donated to various medical colleges, and having made more than 680 body-donation wills through his campaign ‘Deharashtrarpan’

Ramesh Satpute (Photo by Anil Futane)

ALTHOUGH he makes it look simple with his ever-smiling and cheerful personality, Ramesh Satpute’s job is not at all easy.  In a society where discussing death and post-death rituals is itself believed to be inauspicious, he campaigns for  skipping all rituals and donating  the body to medical institutions for research purpose.

Not just message, but Satpute provides a legal body-donation will to the aspiring donors and completes all legal procedure. Not just paperwork, but Satpute also convinces the family-members of a donor about the pledge being done by their elder. Not just lecture, but Satpute also visits the house of the donor on death, checks the body for proper condition, coordinates with the receiving hospital, and makes arrangements to take the body to the hospital. This process involves several practical, financial and most importantly emotional challenges. And the person of sensitive artistic heart can only dare to deal with all these situations. Ramesh Satpute is a perfect fit for this job.

Satpute was a leading commercial designer of Nagpur in mid-1980s when he came to know about the dearth of cadavers for medical research. “My doctor cousin in Pune told that only unclaimed bodies are being used in medical colleges and it is not a good practice. I offered to donate my body for the purpose but even he was ignorant about the process of body donation,” Satpute recalls. After inquiry in GMC and other colleges, he found the process of body donation very complicated. “But I found many people like me who were eager to donate their bodies for further medical research. I pursued the subject for several years and the concept of ‘Deharashtrarpan’ took birth,” Satpute sums up in two sentences, but his ‘pursuance of several years’ include lot many things. His own body donation pledge was rejected sighting legal reasons. So, he and his lawyer friends drafted a complete legal ‘will’. After several timely amendments in it, the four-page document is now in use as official body-donation will. “More than 640 people have signed the same ‘will’ and 111 bodies have already been donated to many hospitals. However, the need is even more. We should promote this noble cause,” Satpute adds.

“After all, body donation is not new in Hinduism. The legend of Maharshi Dadhichi says that he donated his body to create ‘Khadga’, a weapon of Lord Indra by whom the entire Demon clan was demolished. We should come forward for benefit of our further generations,” Satpute gives an instance from Puranas. According to his documentation, people from all religions are becoming aware about body donation. “Some Muslim people also expressed their interest, but their Maulavis didn’t allow them,” he says. Still, the man with mission has visited 800 plus families to spread awareness about the cause. He has a huge collection of all kinds of experiences – good and bad – and all these experiences have made him emotionally and intellectually rich. “My eyes go wet when I see old-age parents signing the ‘will’ just because their children have no time to perform last rites. However, sometimes, I found myself emotionally chocked when I see children shedding tears while signing the consent letter on parents’ ‘will’ as it is hard for them to believe that their loving parents would depart. The world is full of different people,” Satpute states.

He gets call at any moment of the day or night and has to leave immediately to examine the body. “Body with wounds or bed sores is not accepted. So, I have to check and many a times reject. This moment is very tough for me,” he says. Due to his mission, Satpute cannot leave Nagpur for a long duration. “I am a travelling enthusiast. But my trip is limited for a day or two now,” he smiles with and offers his ‘trademark’ chocolate to us as he signs off.

Cutting of the same article published in The Hitavada on February 24

Self made Musician

Once struggling for an opportunity to sing on stage, Unnikrishnan Nair, today, continues to inspire aspiring singers of Nagpur with his velvety voice - an echo of Yesudas. And his sargam group has made a distinct mark for itself...

 MUSIC-LOVERS of the Orange City know him as ‘Nagpur’s Yesudas’ and Unnikrishnan Nair cherishes this identity. However, the man has much more to present than the trademark ‘Yesudas’ style. He sings songs of all genres -- right from Bhajans to film songs-- in eight languages. He single-handedly organises innovative musical events several times in a year through his well-known ‘Sargam’ group. He brings new talent on the stage and encourages amateur singers to perform during public events. Most importantly, Unnikrishnan Nair is doing this for more than three decades. Seniors of Keraleeya Samajam, Ayyappa Samajam, South India Association and other groups may recall young Unni’s first performance on stage way back in 1971. And since then, he is the signature ‘Yesudas’ of Nagpur.

In his young days, Unnikrishnan performing in Nagpur.

“As a young singing enthusiast, I used to stand in the last row of the jam-packed orchestra performances and listen to Ahmed Kadir, Yogesh Thaker and other popular musicians of Nagpur. I was confident enough to sing on stage, but it was hard to get an opportunity those days. There were no TV channels or FM bands,” recalls Unnikrishnan, a retired WCL employee, who then went on to organise his own musical events.
“Sargam was born right there. We never charged money for musical performances right from the first event. The tradition goes on even today,” says a proud Unnikrishnan. However, raising funds for such ‘open for all’ events has always been a major challenge, he accepts. With the smiling support of his wife Rema and two sons, Abhijit and Akshay, Unnikrishnan has been accepting this challenge several times in a year since the last thirty years.

Unnikrishnan with the legendary Yesudas.

“Passion for music made me overlook financial losses. A glitter of confidence in the eyes of a young singer after his maiden performance is reward enough for me,” smiles the man who recognised the singing potential in many a talented singers of the city at a very tender age and gave them their first ever public platform. Aniruddha Joshi and Manjiri Vaidya are a few names that have taken a bow on Unnikrishnan’s stage. And the tradition of introducing new talent continues even today. Moreover, bringing lesser known singers on the stage is another special feature of ‘Sargam’.

“Music is universal language of the heart and I am always in search of new talent,” says Unnikrishnan. Musical events by professionals, doctors, advocates and bureaucrats, organised by ‘Sargam’ have been appreciated by Nagpurians.

The thing that pains Unnikrishnan is that he lacks proper training in music. “I always strove to get proper training in classical music. But things never went my way. But, I believe, at least basic training is a must for a good singer,” Unnikrishnan says. The Nair family dreams to establish a basic music school through ‘Sargam’ in Nagpur.

With Unnikrishnan’s much-evident persistence, this dream too is sure to become a reality in the near future.

Cutting of the same article published in The Hitavada  on February 16, 2013