MAMC's beloved Bhandari Bhaiyya dies after serving canteen for 25 years

Babulal Bhandari (Bhandari Bhaiyya), (49) a canteen server for nearly 25 years, lost his battle to Covid-19. Current and former students, many of whom are senior medicos in top hospitals, are now raising money to help Bhandari’s family in Nepal.

On any regular day, the department canteen of Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) would echo with vociferous requests for tea, snacks and lunch -- all addressed to Bhandari Bhaiyya. Whatever time of the day, Bhandari Bhaiyya would always be there, taking orders and passing on full plates with a shy smile.

Alumni members of MAMC said Bhandari started showing symptoms of Covid-19, including respiratory distress, cough and temperature, from May 2 but his RT-PCR test came back negative on May 4.

Since May 11, the MAMC canteen has been bereft of that smile. Babulal Bhandari (Bhandari Bhaiyya), (49) a canteen server for nearly 25 years, lost his battle to Covid-19. Current and former students, many of whom are senior medicos in top hospitals, are now raising money to help Bhandari’s family in Nepal.

Alumni members of MAMC said Bhandari started showing symptoms of Covid-19, including respiratory distress, cough and temperature, from May 2 but his RT-PCR test came back negative on May 4. On May 8, he had to be admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital after his condition deteriorated. On May 11, he died of a cardiac arrest prompted by Covid-19, according to hospital records.

“He (Bhandari) had been serving at MAMC’s canteen for a long time. He was there when I completed my MBBS. He greeted me with so much warmth whenever I went there. He continued to relentlessly serve the medical fraternity even during Covid,” said Dr Himanshu Meena, resident doctor, paediatrics, Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital, who graduated from MAMC in 2012.

The MAMC canteen, where Bhandari worked caters to doctors and medical students from four affiliated hospitals, including the adjacent Lok Nayak Hospital, which is the largest Covid-19 facility. While medicos are equipped with safety gear, supporting staff like Bhandari, who is in regular contact with these front-line workers, are left with scant protection, even though they are also at high risk.

An internal newsletter of MAMC, ”Trending Now in MAMC”, posted on Sunday, “Through the years, he had formed a personal bond with everyone who had ever set foot in the canteen...He would be missed dearly by everyone he crossed paths with.”

In an interview to that newsletter in 2017, Bhandari had said he worked 12-hour shifts, without any holidays.