From stunning scuba dives to scaling daunting mountains, these doctors nurture their passion and maintain work-life balance

Sixty-one-year-old Dr Dhananjay Kelkar, medical director at Pune’s Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, recalls that with his dual medical and organisational work, like every other busy doctor he has developed this “sense of immortality”. “Scans and tests soon picked up coronary artery blocks that put me on a path of self-discovery and rekindled my hobbies—trekking and bird photography,” he says. The Goecha La, Markha Valley, Machu Picchu, Stok Kangri and Hampta Pass were among the many treks that Dr Kelkar completed, leaving him planning for more. Apart from the surreal experience and panoramic views, being one with nature and getting a perfect shot of as many as 1,100 bird species form a list of accomplishments. “I do roughly 100 surgeries every month and take a birding holiday every six weeks. There are around 1,250 bird species and it can be pretty difficult to capture some, but these hobbies provide me with a sense of purpose and recharge my batteries when I return to work,” he adds.

For 55-year-old shoulder and joint replacement surgeon Dr Ashish Babhulkar, who could not swim to save his life, scuba diving helped to get over his hydrophobia. “This has been an epic journey that I commenced sometime in 2010. Last month I completed 100 scuba dives in the Red Sea, Egypt,” says this certified scuba diver. Night dives were of a different calibre as he and his buddy would encounter some scary creatures like stunning sting rays, Spanish dancer (crimson mollusc), stone fish, scorpion fish and almost all varieties of eels. “Recently at Bluff Point, Sharm el-Shaikh, I was leading my team without the trainer and we encountered a live eel kill. Needless to say, my heart was pounding against my chest but I was determined to capture the entire event on my camera,” says Dr Babhulkar, who finds it comforting to visit diverse places to explore his passion. When not scanning for the latest medical equipment, Dr Babhulkar would mostly be found diving for another underwater adventure, donning wet suits and armed with waterproof torches.

When 59-year-old Dr Nitin Abhyankar, a renowned pulmonologist at the Poona Hospital and Research Centre, is not busy at his outpatient department, he is immersed in composing his next poem. The first book of his poems, Geetat Mazya, was released in 2019. Such has been his passion coupled with a good grip on the meter as a tabla player that his second book of poems, Kan Sathawale Kahi, is now ready and Tuzya Sawe, apart from one in Hindi, is in the pipeline. This doctor who belts out his love for free verse and rhymes across more than 225 poetry recitation videos on YouTube is unstoppable and pens a new poem every single day.

As several doctors over the years have taken to fitness activities, what sets 72-year-old Dr Shirish Yande, chief urologist at Ruby Hall Clinic, apart is an unusual passion—documenting the Indian railways—which has given him incredible joy over the years. “Earlier I would run 1 km to watch the Goods Steam Loco as I heard the whistle of its arrival and stand by its driving wheels, enjoying the thumping personality of the beast that oozed steam from almost everywhere. Later travelling by railways inspired me to read and design rail timetables. I found like-minded people and we set up a Model Railway Society meeting every month to discuss finer aspects like traction, signalling and interlocking,” says Dr Yande, who is president of the society. With such in-depth knowledge, the society now has its own informal encyclopaedia of the railways.