Living through the most remarkable period...

My father was born in 1887, 10 years before the birth of Nataji Subhas Chandra Bose (1897) and 2 years before Jawahar Lal Nehru (1889). A boy whose parents died at a tender age but he became a doctor of big name and fame. He was a hero in the real life who went from rags to riches.

He used to say proudly that he had lived through the most remarkable period of Indian independence movement and the period of amazing discoveries in the history of medicine. The advancements which had occurred in his life time in the field of medical technology, diagnosis and treatment, had revolutionized the profession. He said dozens of treatment for diseases such as Diphtheria and Gonorrhoea used to be listed in Materia Medica. In fact, non of which was effective. There was a natural feeling among physicians in that era, that “it is better to do something than to do nothing”. “The less a disease was understood, the larger the number of treatments were available”. Aspirin and Quinine existed when he entered in practice. Later came, one after the other, accessory food factors, to be known later as “vitamins” making possible to understand deficiency diseases e.g; pellagra and beriberi , diabetes was recognized as deficiency in pancreatic insulin secrition, organic mercurials for edema , arsenic preparation Salvarsan (Arsphenamine) for syphilis, from red dye Prontosil came sulfanilamide, and vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, were discovered. Cortisone came to be known. The greatest wonder in all, Penicillin., was discovered by Alexander Fleming at St.Mary’s hospital, London. Prior to that no body believed, that such an antibacterial substance , which could be used safely in human beings would be possible. The armamentarium went on further to include streptomycin, tetracyclines and chloramphenicol. Use of anesthetics also became popular in his life time, bringing unbelievable advancement in surgical field. Taking blood pressure became prevalent in 1930s. It is also true that in 1930s, Roentgen therapy was endorsed for many skin conditions and in 1940s coronary occlusion was considered to occur during sleep or at rest, not with exertion. He said no effective drugs were available till 1950s to treat hypertension. He often repeated smiling, a maxim regarding skin diseases “ If it’s dry, wet it, if it’s wet, dry it, and when in doubt, use steroids.” He was glad that the days of purgation, cut & bleed the patient, leeches, douches, cupping, poultices, plasters, messages and baths are over. The use of galenic preparations e.g; tinctures , extracts, syrups, essences, elixiers, wines and emulsions had faded from practice. Poisson drugs such as arsenic, strychnine, stramonium, nux vomica, lobella, and others e.g; creosote, musk, cannabis indica had become obsolete. He said the drugs which continued to be used till then, from the old pharmacopoeia , were; atropine, digitalis, chloral hydrate, quinidine and codeine. He prepared a hand book of medical treatment (red hard cover diaries of Indon Pharma) and beautifully drew on first page “ Caduceus”, the staff and twin serpents, symbolism of medicine. He had seen the history of medicine in making. .
While attending a patient he always gave a personal touch, inquiring about the welfare of the family, about the work etc. He always remembered people by their first name. When asked how he did it ? He said laughing “Tricks of the trade.” He used to affectionately put his hand on patients head or shoulder and say “ Every thing is going to be alright. I will see to it”. He was master in cheering up the patients. He said “ Approach the patient as an individual not as “case” or “disease”. He is human, fearful, and hopeful, seeking relief, help and assurance.” He said, “listen the patient with empathy, observe the way he describe the symptoms, inflection of voice, facial expressions, as attitude betrays important clues. Some patients use illness to gain attention or even feign illness”. He examined the patents methodically. He said “ I don’t want to make mistake. Reputations of doctors, especially negative one, are created very quickly and recast very slowly.” He said “ decision to run tests should be very thoughtful.” He used to go on house calls also when required, carrying with him a brown leather doctor’s emergency box. But he never accepted any refreshments in patient house when on professional visit. He often complained that day by day we are losing human touch in the practice and becoming machine like. Direct one –to- one physician-patient relationship is in jeopardy. He blamed participation of specialists for leaving no body to guide the patient continuously through an illness. He was a firm believer that a doctor must have a career long thirst for new knowledge.

He tried to maintained good relations with the other medical practitioners. The medical profession is a closed society in many ways. It has its own language and code of behavior, and to outsiders it erects a formidable wall. But inside that wall is an increasingly dynamic and pluralistic world. He said “ There is a surface collegiality among doctors. They socialize among themselves, and some doctors count at least one other doctor as a good friend. But it’s not surprising that they turn their criticism on their colleagues, too. They regard them with disdain, bemusement, envy, and respect, and a very few with something approaching awe.” Many doctors speak of their colleagues with contempt, calling them “quacks” . The medical college doctors look down on private practice doctors, and many private practitioners accuse the academic doctors in medical colleges of living in ivory towers and not knowing the first thing about taking care of patients. It is akin to class warfare. In private practice one has to develop contacts and keep good terms by going to parties, sending gifts, and attending meetings. A “referral game is to be played. One calls different specialists depending on the problem so they can take their share and they in return send their patient, the cycle goes on.

He hated doctors playing God. He said “ Never say to terminal patients, you have so and so time to live. I like to tell patients that some people with their illness live for only a few months, but others can survive for several years, and there is no way to predict how you will do.” He said “ I have seen doctors get annoyed as hell when a patient lived for a year or two after the doctor had predicted they’d be dead in three months. These doctors hate being proved wrong more than they enjoy seeing a patient live longer.”

He had found real joy in being small-town doctor, in being an intimate part of people’s lives . He was important to them. He said “ You walk down the street and see someone who was at death’s door a few months before, and you remember being up all night and getting them through their medical crisis. And you go to people’s homes when they’re dying, and you try to ease their pain and family’s grief and help them feel they are doing the right thing. You feel very privileged and complimented to share those emotions and to be a part of that. It’s a kind of satisfaction, that you can’t get in any other field. But this is ending. Such doctors as we’ve known it is fading away.” Medical practice does not mean cheating and milking the public. Money has taken over medicine. There have always been some business aspect to medical practice, medicine, in the most fundamental sense, is not a business. It’s not just the fault of the doctors. It seems to be the way our society is going, and doctors are part of it.

Also for doctors, the death of a patient is the most painful and humbling experience in their professional life. It is the ultimate proof that the doctor’s art is limited and the human body and spirit are an untapped mystery. He said ” Not all deaths are sad or tragic. The death of a ninety-year-old man who has lived a good life may be poignant, but you know that that man has lived out his life. It’s the young lives cut short that are hard to face. There aren’t many doctors without a memory of a dying patient that will stay with him for rest of his life.”


He believed that reading news paper is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Every day with out fail he read “Hindustan Times Daily”, news paper, keeping abreast with current state of domestic and world events. He held that world is becoming small day by day. He also held clear views in politics.

He said, : (1). That the greatest mistake Hitler did like Napoleon in the past, was to invade Russia. (2). That India got independence much earlier only because Churchill lost elections after second world war and Clement Attlee of labour party came to power, who wanted the British Raj to expeditiously withdraw its forces and to extricate as many of its assets as possible from what seemed to him to have become more of an imperial burden and liability than any real advantage for Great Britain. He liked to remind the prophecy made by Winston Churchill in the British Parliament when Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced the Labour Party Government’s decision to hand over power to India in 1947. Churchill said “ Power will go into the hands of rascals, rogues, and freebooters. Not a bottle of water or a loaf of bread will escape taxation. Only the air will be free and the blood of these hungry millions will be on the head of Attlee. These are men of straw of whom no trace will be found after a few years. They will fight among themselves and India will be lost in political squabbles” His comment was that it is better to live in the mess of our own making than have foreigners settle our squabbles. (3). That the congress party of Nehru-Gandhi was as much responsible for partition as Jinnah and his Muslim league. In 1946, when Lord Pethick Lawrence was appointed head of India office, an old admirer of Gandhi, came to New Delhi with a three man cabinet deputation for transferring power to a single Indian administration proposing a three tier federation of India integrated by a central government in Delhi handling foreign affairs, communication and defense, accepted the proposal. India was going to remain Undivided. But than reelected president of congress Nehru announced at his press conference that he is not bound by this constitutional formula. This angered Jinnah and he withdrew his agreement demanding separate Muslim nation. Jinnah could not be convinced later and India was divided. (4). That Mahatma Gandhi was a saint not a politician.(5). That he was assassinated (January 30,1948) because of the wrong steps taken by the congress government against the wishes of public.(6) That the congress party should have been dissolved after independence as Gandhi proposed. (7). That Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel (d.1950) was a much better choice for first prime minister of India than Nehru. (8). That India needed a dictator like a person of the stature of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, at lest for first 10 years after independence, to set the things right. But Nehru-Gandhi had compelled him to leave congress president ship in 1938. (9).That the Nehru’s charismatic brilliance and popularity helped to hide the continuity of India’s grave problems. Not only they did not disappear, they worsened under his leadership. (10).That the Nehru’s socialistic policies and autocratic style of governance was not taking India any where. (11). That Nehru was the person who unnecessarily complicated the issue of Jammu & Kashmir. (12). That the decision of Nehru of redesigning states on the basis of Languages (1956) was a grave mistake. (13). That the cause of Nehru’s death (May 27,1964) was actually Chinese invasion, which gave a fatal blow to his most cherished principals & ideas. His foreign policy of nonalignment based on “Panch Shila”, five principals, failed. (14). He was very sick during Bangladesh crisis, but continued reading daily news papers and listening BBC news on radio. He hailed Nehru’s daughter, Indra Gandhi, calling her, like many others, as “Durga” the eight-armed, tiger-riding, invincible deity in Hindu pantheon. He said, she was indeed a real man among most of the men around her. He also said that Pakistan was destined to split from the day, it was carved. These happened to be his last views in politics before his death.

He knew that he did not have a lot of time left. On saying that he is going to live many more years, he replied "Don't try to flatter an old man who knows death can't be far away. I may be ancient but I'm not yet senile."

Lying down idle in the bed formented him the most. He said that was the worst time when the past came back with a vengence, the could-haves and should-haves bothred most. During his last days , he said , that he had reached most of the goals he set for himself as a youg boy. He died on March 17, 1972.