Pune had already been blessed by the generous contribution of Sassoon- a Jewish merchant family in the form of the David Sassoon Hospital (Old Sassoon Building) built at a cost of Rs. 213,000 serving the poor and needy from 1867, and the Jacob Sassoon Hospital constructed by his nephew in 1905-06 to relieve the congestion on the David Sassoon Hospital. Both were magnificent buildings, architectural marvels and the clock tower of David Sassoon Hospital, a landmark in the city. The campus had already been blessed by the presence of two great personalities - Avtar Meher Baba was born in the old maternity ward in the hospital, and the father of the nation, Mahatma, Gandhi was operated upon for emergency appendectomy in 1924 by a British Surgeon Col. Murdoch with an Indian anaesthetist Dr. Datey in attendance.