Community's first gynaecologist in making, Payal Tadvi was setting up her Mumbai home

JALGAON: Just days before her death, junior gynaecologist Payal Tadvi from Jalgaon had started preparations to move into a rented flat in Mumbai with her husband Salman Tadvi, an assistant professor at Cooper Hospital. Since their marriage in 2016, they had hardly got any free time to spend together. "They had just rented a flat near Nair hospital. She had brought new cupboard and clothes for herself online. She was looking forward to life," Payal's maternal aunt Alishan, told TOI on Thursday.
Her family and neighbours in Jalgaon are still to come to terms with the death of their 'chakuli' (little one), who while maintaining her focus on becoming a doctor, had also given auditions at a couple of dance reality shows while in Classes XI and XII. Her family recalled how Payal would participate in dance programmes in her school and at cultural events in Jalgaon.
Her father Salim and mother Abeda are among the first of their Tadvi Bhil tribal community to be educated. Salim is an assistant account officer at the Jalgaon Zilla Parishad and her mother Abeda is an office superintendent at the ZP.
The community is mainly spread over three talukas of Jalgaon district, on the foothills of Satpura range. Mostly in the work of cutting wood and collecting gum from the woods, Payal's parents were keen on educating their children. When their elder son, Ritesh, became paralyzed below the waist soon after his birth, the couple decided they would ensure Payal gets good education. "Though five years younger than me, she saw my trouble right from her childhood and used to say that she would cure him once she became a doctor," Ritesh said.
After she completed MBBS in Miraj of Sangli district, she was already a doctor for everyone back home. "We used to send all medical reports of our relatives to Payal on Whatsapp for her guidance. In fact, her childhood friends had started calling her as doctor the day she left town to pursue MBBS course," said Mangala Mahajan, Payal's neighbor in Muktainagar, where the Tadvis stayed for close to 20 years.
Her aunt, Alishan, recalled that it was Payal's insistence that helped early detection of Abeda's breast cancer. "Had it not been for Payal, her mother would have neglected the tumour. Payal started her mother's treatment in Mumbai when the cancer was in its first stage," she said.
Habib Tadvi, a school teacher in Raver taluka, who knows the community well, said Payal would have become the first gyneacologist from her community. "It is sad bright girls have to face such harassment during education. She had got a PG seat in Latur in the first round, but she chose Mumbai as she wanted to stay close to her husband. Now, we wish she had gone to Latur," said Suman Sapkale, another neighbor of the Tadvis.