It’s a long way down memory lane as I reminisce more than two decenniums! A flash from the back indeed!
I was a newly married bride, and Pune City was new to me. I was working in Mumbai an expert at fast life, travelling in Mumbai locals and buses. So, to me, life in Pune was dull and slow.
I joined Padmashree Dr. D. Y. Patil College of Nursing as a young teacher, aspiring to grow up professionally.
When I joined this College, in the year 2001, it was housed in the same building as the Medical College for Women. I felt nostalgic about my days of graduation at SNDT Women’s University Mumbai and enthusiastically joined here.
Those were the days when I was tackling with the challenges of cooking and running a household, dealing with the traffic, all geared up with a helmet, gloves, and goggles (this was totally alien to a Mumbaikar) -- the only comforting and known thing to me was teaching.
I remember being excited to go to college daily. I was groomed and pruned by my mentor Mrs. Vijaya Patil, a dynamic leader, who had a natural flair to identify the best in each teacher (We all bloomed as teachers, under her expert guidance.) She found a trait in me that I could maintain very good records. Hence, I was made the secretary for monthly staff meetings, and I meticulously wrote the minutes of each official event.
The college had newly begun, and we the faculty had challenges of teaching the students with newer approaches of teaching and learning. We were affiliated with MUHS then. I underwent MET (Medical Education Technology) in 2001, Professor Dongaonkar the VC of MUHS introduced the teachers to MCQ, SAQ, and LAQ. It was a learning activity for us, as we mastered setting question papers for assessing the students. The MCQ had to be submitted along with the answer key, with the page number and line number.
I saw the DYPCON grow gradually, as the first batch moved from the first year to the final year. I remember very fondly the journey of the 2001 batch of students.
Meanwhile, Honourable P. D. Patil Sir deputed me for MSc Nursing at Bharati Vidyapeeth in the year 2003 on study leave. I had taken up higher studies after a 7 year gap. After two years of study leave, I joined the college. That is the time I got to know first-hand, the hardships that a student nurse, with a family, undergoes.
With God’s grace, I had secured a gold medal each, in Community Health Nursing as well as in Nursing Research. When I returned to college, I was made Class Teacher of IV Year BSc Nursing, as the subjects Community Health Nursing and Nursing Research were in IV Year.
When newer programs started, it was a great stimulating challenge for all of us. I remember that the MSc Nursing program was introduced in the year 2007, and when the first batch of MSc Nursing had reached the Final Year, I was made Class Coordinator both for Final Year MSc Nursing along with IV Year BSc Nursing!
I was given the role as NSS Program Officer for MUHS which I sincerely worked upon. It was always about multitasking. I was made the Research Coordinator for MUHS, and that year (2007), one of our IVth Year student’s research projects got first prize in Avishkar Festival at MUHS.
Once we proceeded to the DPU status, the college grew by leaps and bounds, as many programs like PBBSc Nursing, MSc Nursing, Ph.D. Nursing, and Certificate courses in Critical Care began. This resulted in a higher number of students graduating, getting placed, in private, and government sectors, and some were placed globally.
The name DPU by then had become a brand that was well-known not only in India but also all over the world. I remember when I went to sign the MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) with the Government of Singapore for placement of alumni in Singapore Government services; of the seven Nursing Colleges chosen by the Government of India, DPU was the only College from Maharashtra. It was an honour to represent DPU on behalf of the University for our alumni at the Government of India office in New Delhi.
I enjoyed working in the clinical area of community health nursing, (each day has added to my memoirs) of teaching, administration, and research. Over the years, I got an opportunity to work as the Principal and Dean Faculty of Nursing. I gladly assert that the highlight of my career was, heading the College of Nursing towards NAAC accreditation and securing A++ Thus making the dream of Honourable Chancellor Sir come true. This was the driving force for my team, and we dared to aim for higher goals.
It has been a wonderful journey of 22 years. Every memory at the DPU will I always cherish. The mentors, the alumni, the past and the present students, my co-workers, my seniors, my reporting officers at DPU, and even the supporting staff. I owe my memories to all of you. Adulation and applause to DPU. God Bless.
'… And I have miles to go....... ' -Robert Frost.