Quiet old activist from Ralegan Siddhi who once had half the country talking about corruption? Well, he’s been shifted to hospital in Mumbai and it’s not a light thing.
From what the papers and channels are saying this evening, he was first getting treated near his village. Then his condition took a dip – severe viral infection, body completely dehydrated, and some reports also talking about kidney-related issues. They put him in a cardiac ambulance with caretakers from the village and brought him straight to Bombay Hospital. He’s in the ICU now under Dr. Gautam Bhansali.
India Today, Hindustan Times, News18, Times of India – they’re all carrying more or less the same picture. Doctors are running detailed checks right now to decide the next course. He’s under observation. One of the Hindi reports mentioned his condition has stabilised a bit after the shift, but still, at nearly 90, any infection plus dehydration is serious. They said he had fever, weakness, cough in the days before this.
It’s strange how these things hit. This is the same man who sat on hunger strikes, transformed his drought-hit village into a model place with water conservation and community work, and in 2011 led that whole India Against Corruption wave. Ramlila Maidan, the crowds, the push for Lokpal – people still remember those days. Even this year he came out in support of students protesting over the exam paper leak mess, wrote to the PM, sat in silent protest himself. The fire never fully went out.
But age is age. The body doesn’t keep up the way the spirit does. He’s always lived simply – white kurta, village life, no big lifestyle. Friends and people from Ralegan have stuck by him. That’s why the caretakers travelled with him in the ambulance. Small detail, but it tells you something about the kind of loyalty he’s built over decades.
Right now there’s no long medical bulletin. Just the basic facts: ICU, Bombay Hospital, viral infection plus dehydration, tests ongoing. Moneycontrol, ET Now, Mathrubhumi – all repeating the same. NDTV noted he’s quite frail. Further updates will come once the full assessment is done.
You know how these hospital stories go. One day it’s local treatment, next day it’s a big city ICU. Hope the doctors pull him through cleanly. For a man who spent so many years fighting for others, it’s only fair he gets proper care now. The village will be waiting, the people who still look up to him will be waiting.
Sources: India Today, Hindustan Times, Times of India, News18, Moneycontrol and the rest who broke or carried the admission news.
@Rohit Manral
