Wednesday, December 12, 2018

The Autobiography of AN UNKNOWN MEDICO Dr. Dhanakar Thakur


Serially whole book will be put as blog and later on some chapters will be updated also.

The Autobiography
of
An Unknown Medico
Dr. Dhanakar Thakur



            This book describes the conditions under which a boy of a middle class traditional Indian family became a doctor, and laid the foundation of a national organisation of medicos -- the National Medicos Organisation (NMO), for the fulfillment of his social obligations, all at a price of his personal comforts during a period of pseudo-socialistic developments in Bharat (1955-2018).


Front cover depicting the nagphani (prickly pear) to which the author has compared himself in a poem (pg.177). The border is from one of the famous Madhubani paintings of  Mithila  to which the author belongs and had studied there in the Darbhanga Medical College. Nagphani painting by Mrs. Abhas Kumar Chatterjee.

Part of this book is also available on website :

  
 From  page 21 onwards minus 20 for actual page no. of book i.e. page 21 is page 1 and so onwards and so pages are recorded it is in indices of the book in the end  because  page 1-4 are cover pages and up to  Page 16  of this are  page i- xvi  in actual pages of the book .
Picures from Pagemaker could not be copied in this Wordfile but those will be in the actual book.

© with the author.                 All proceeds from this book will go to social work.

(If not published by any publisher)
Minimum acceptable donation: Rs. 100 for U.G. students , Rs. 200 for doctors/others
Price (for institutions/libraries):       Rs. 500  (from outside India and Nepal-$500)
price (for persons):                Rs. 300 (from outside India and Nepal-$300)
  For free distribution amongst medicos (medical students and doctors) of Bharat and Nepal. Contributions, however, may be  deposited  in S/B Account No.480102010871  in the account of “National Medicos Organisation,” at  the  Union BANK of INDIA, Shyamali  branch or  in  S/B Account No.  491010100004227  in the account of “National Medicos Organisation, Ranchi,” at  the  BANK of INDIA, Shyamali  branch  (both CBS-core banking  branch) and inform on E-mail:nmocentral @rediffmail.com /phone us on 9430141788. Money may also be sent  by  M. O. or cheque/bank draft payable to           '' National Medicos Organisation"  at any of the banks in Ranchi  and asking current postal address of   Dr. Dhanakar Thakur.
Money may also be deposited  in S/B Account No.  48102010871415  in the S/B Account of “Antrarashtriy Maithili Parishad,” at  the  Union BANK of INDIA, Shyamli  branch, Ranchi  and inform on E-mail: dhanakarmithila  @rediffmail.com  /phone us on 9430141788. Money may also be sent  by  M. O. or cheque/bank draft payable to                '' Antarrashtriy Maithili Parishad"  at any of the banks in Ranchi  and asking current postal address of   Dr. Dhanakar Thakur.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Blessings of H.H. Swami Chinmayananda
Indore, 14 Nov 1989    
 Dr. Dhanakar Thakur, M.D., Ranchi.
Hariom! Hariom! Hariom!  Salutations!!
National Medicos Organisation is an answer to a very urgent need in the country. I congratulate you all and wish the organisations help from all Charitable Trusts and liberal donors.
The organisation can consider itself as   NAMO and not as NMO. It sounds and has a significant meaning.
Love.

 
 
..... We may convert every house in the country into a charity asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but the misery of man will still continue to exist, until man’s character changes.”   - Swami Vivekananda.

ii

Acknowledgements
                I am grateful to Dr. Jaykant Mishra, ex-prof. & HOD, English, Allahabad University; Prof. Damodar Thakur, BA (Cantab), ex- DPI, Bihar; Prof. S.Choudhary, IIT, Chennai; Prof. S.Narayan, JNU, Imphal; Prof. C. K. Jha, Tata College, Chaibasa; Prof. N. L. Das, Forbesganj    for their valuable suggestions.
                My sincere gratitude is to late J. K. Datta (25.2.1924-27.6.2002), ex-legal adviser, HSL, who spared his full 13 days to correct the manuscript  and to his friend R. C. Prosad, ex-DGM. (Tech.), HEC, Ranchi who took over correction work further (in almost 100 sittings at his residence) till I was transferred to Bangalore as if a punishment in March  2006.
                 In the initial stages, late Abhash K. Chatterjee, IAS (21.01.1941-14.12.2002) (an eponym of scholarship, honesty, simplicity and dedication to poor, whose views on staunch nationalism and History were similar to the author’s, though ‘topper’ of 1966-67 batch of the IAS, he resigned on several burning issues needing urgent attention), an intellectually senior friend and guide to the author, he died while he was to go through the final proofs of the book which was lying on his table. Mrs. A. K. Chatterjee provided nagphani painting for the cover design.
                Late Chatterjee had also corrected many pages of the script; so also Sudha and Priya, Ms. Atoshi Ghosh, Mrs. Savita Kumar and Mrs. Anima; The RDCIS, SAIL, Ranchi’s, ex-GM, K. C. Chatterjee, ex-ED, S. Jha encouraged;  A. K. Jena, prepared draft Indices; Somnath Mitra and M.Gangadaran, designed cover pages; M.K. Verma, C. B. P. Singh, Md. Abbas, Ram Prasad Sah, Durga Prasad, MTI’s  S. Jha and Alok kumar and my colleagues, Dr. Hridesh Saha,  Dr. S. K. Mishra, Dr. J.K. Rath, Dr. Bina Prasad and Pravin and many others provided valuable help  through long 18 years of the gestation of the book. N.K. Jha of the MECON drew the map.
                The data was first entered in the Catholic Press, Ranchi but in its long gestation period was lost and  could not be retrieved when I made up mind   to publish it on the historic occasion of the Silver Jubilee Celebration of the NMO on 10.11.2002 (which itself was an important milestone in the life of this unknown medico) due to the efforts of  Dr. Lal Chandra, Dr. N. M. Singh, Dr. Anil Jain, Dr. Harsh Vardhan of the NMO, Delhi. During those days I was a guest of Dr. V. B. Kathiria, MP from Rajkot and Minister of State, GOI. My sincere gratitude to them and each and all who provided help in various ways, prominent among them were Dr. D. K. Sarker, Dr. Vimal, Dr. Punit Agrawal, Dr. Manish Bhushan Pandey, Dr. Rajkumar Gupta, A. S. Yadav who helped me in reading proofs despite the Deepawali holidays. Roh (i) tash (wa) and the staff of Dhaliwal Printers, New Delhi who entered this book on computer second time have earned my gratitude.
                But the book could not be published on that historic occasion because protocol of Dy. P.M., Sri L.K.Advani needed 15 days time to go through it.
                Since then started continuous revision of the book with exhaustive indexing making it like a reference book honourarily first at the Caps Micrographics, Ranchi at the behest of Munmun where Prabir Mondal and Nasreen laboured hard.
                When the Caps was closed down at Ranchi, the data was loaded at R.C.Prosad’s computer where I myself revised and updated it (till  I was transferred to Bangalore where it continued on the computer of Dhirendra, son-in-law of my younger sister, Rajkumari) and then on my PC at MECON Ltd., Bangalore.  After 23.2.2003, my relations with some persons handling NMO became sour and only after three years I decided to work again for the very young medicos when Dr. Madhup Kumar convened NMOCON-2006
at Indore and now the book is in your hands proving Shiv Khera’s saying,  " Ascent is not important but the successive ascents after descents."
               
               
 iii

  


                                                            FOREWORD


 May not be in this book 



iv

The Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the
National Medicos Organisation (NMO)
Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi
Kartik Krishna 6,2059 Vikram Samvat (November 10,2002)
                   The NMO was founded on the Kartik Krishna 9,2034 Vikram Samvat(November 5,1977) at Varanasi and hence, its Silver Jubilee Celebrations were started at the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyala (KHV) i.e. BHU (page 242-243) on the 5th November, 2001.
              When I reached the programme-venue late after darshan of Bhagwan Vishwanath, the inaugural session was already over and none of the one hundred odd medicos of the IMS recognised me. They were donating blood on this occasion with enthusiasm. Since seniors had already left, there was uninhibited murmuring of the youthful talks and in fact, I was thrilled to experience it. Medicos __ girls and boys in almost equal numbers were donating blood in such a cheering mood that I felt as if I was seeing the would-be doctors, full of service attitude and they were having one of the best talents in that premier medical institution of the country and as the founder of this organisation, I felt, I had done  a good thing.
              With my scientific knowledge, literary interests and oratory skills,  I might have been a good scientist, a reputed doctor,  a celebrated author and or a renowned political leader but in the last quarter of the century, I could evolve myself as an organisational man and despite being outspoken to the tune of being felt arrogant,  I could keep people with the organisation as I was sincere, dedicated and devoted to the NMO as a worker, so much so, that people had forgotten me as its founder and naturally did not call me to the dais at Varanasi or even at Delhi* when the Silver Jubilee Celebrations were  concluded on November 10th, 2002 at the Siri Fort Auditorium where DY. PM of the country  Ma. Lal Krishna Advani was also present(Cover II)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*and  later Author was not informed by the Margdarshak Ma. Bhaiyaji Joshi for  the core committee meeting of the N. M. O. at Mumbai 23.2.2003  amounting to my  expulsion from NMO  without any charge ( later at Indore he put a  simple charge that I had called many more executive members  than  decided for the ‘core committee’ meeting at Kolkata on 14.7.2002 with Ma. Mohan Bhagwat. In fact, I had  also asked for a general get together on the occasion because I thought for long any good meeting will not be possible there when Punit Bedi completed his course there).                  
                   Even the workers of Indore (Subhash Barod, B.C.Singhal, V. P. Goswami)  could not smell that I was knowingly avoided by a few ('core committee members') during the XXVI Annual Conference,Apr.12-13, 2003 (which they had accepted only on my insistence during the Silver Jubilee) but knowingly  I was ignored  by  the organisers  in the XXVII Annual Conference of the NMO at Patna on 21.3.2004 and  in  Jaipur unit's CME programme on  6.2.2005 (where highest number of delegates attended in any programme of the NMO) by the instructions from some 'core  member' though NMO was  founded  on my ideas  on  5.11.1977 at  Varanasi  and  for the NMO even at  the Patna  during March 30-31, 1980 , I was the convenor and had visited Jaipur only after a week again for that CME, only on request of the workers who had been regarding me like anything.
                Again  at Agra though asked to preside over a scientific session by an eminent psychiatrist in a hurriedly called XXVIII Annual Conference on 22.12.2005(for the first time on a mid-week day, Thursday, to alter drastically the NMO's Constitution undemocratically which was somehow halted), I had gone to the dais  uninvited in the inaugural session to announce the duly elected president and secretary of the NMO which could have changed the working  in favour of young;  I was not given chance to speak and the compeer, Dr. Pawan Kr. Gupta, announced the name of a President which was not accepted by many in the GB meeting , resulting in the final division of the NMO since then. Later  even my character  assassination was tried  by them (whom I had loved most) on charges of morals and funds which was not believed by anyone.                                            
 V

                   I am not immune to the human passion for name and or fame but I sincerely felt that by not going to the dais, I elevated myself more in my  own (and others’) eyes than if I had been there, though I would have loved to have such a photograph of the occasion for my own records. Of course, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Chairman, of the Organising Committee (and the Vice-President of the BJP) mentioned my name while introducing the NMO and the auditorium was resonant with their clapping when I stood up.


              There I was not able to reply properly to the question of Dr. Vineeta Gupta, PhD, the Special Correspondent of the   Panchjanya, “How do you feel after working for 25 years for the NMO?”


              Nobody could have been happier than me there where everybody was happy. Everyone needs good and sympathetic doctors and the NMO was looked at   as its answer to many.


              The NMO does not have proper documentation of its work but surely it has worked far more than the Nobel Prize winning medical societies _ the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War in 1985 and or Medicins Sans Frontiers (the Doctors Without Borders) in 1999.


              The NMO was not even started by a doctor _ but by me, then only an under-graduate medical student who did not have even the text-books to read and the NMO grew and spread and has served almost every calamity from the Andhra Cyclone of 1977 to the Bhuj Cyclone of 2001.


              Then in 1977, our three-member team’s work was appreciated by everybody and likewise around 1000 doctors served on rotation basis in the NMO’s Dr. Hedgewar Hospital at Bhachau, where I could not go due to familial, organisational and other problems but the work was done satisfactorily and this is the advantage of any organisation.



              The NMO got encouragement from every section of the society _ the RSS or non-RSS persons, medicos and non-medicos. Of course, Sangh workers and medicos were the seat-anchors for the units spread all over the country.
vi
             

  

              In 1997,in the NEC meeting of the NMO at the LHMC, New Delhi, the NMO had asked the Govt. for convening a Health Assembly, which it did not.

              And hence, I reminded our workers of Delhi to convene it on this occasion of the NMO’s Silver Jubilee. I also felt that it should be held in the Capital so that people and the press might give due attention to it, which to a great extent was fulfilled.

              Arranging in Delhi, a programme of such magnitude had its inherent problems and our workers had to seek help from the political minded doctor swayamsevaks. Though they worked tirelessly, it still left a scar in the minds of the delegates _ after a surgery, a scar, even minimal is mandatory and acceptable but  a social worker should burn like a candle leaving nothing of its own as was said by Swami Vivekananda whose large portrait was on the backdrop.

              I felt as if I got one Dr. Narendra Mohan Singh (who deliberately avoided going to the dais) as an example before me. After all, Vivekananda himself was Narendra. I do not want a grihastha (family-man) Narendra should take sanyas (renunciation)! Narendra fell ill two days before the function, exhausted from hard work.

              The Asst. Organising Secretary of the function, Dr. Lal Chandra was day and night busy so much so that I felt he would fall sick like me who had phosphaturia before the first NMO Conference in 1981 at Patna. Though the historians, regard 27 years as a generation , after 25 years, I could see myself in him, of course, as my younger brother since I was very young when   I had initiated the NMO as a movement.

              I recall, when the press liaison person Rohtas had asked for an off on Deepawali -day, Lalchand was angry, “You will have Deepawali every year but my Silver Jubilee will never come again.” And, equally busy was Dr. Anil Jain leaving his practice for months.

              Sometimes I think, only because I was young that I could initiate such a big project and could see that it had spread all over the country. As one grows, one becomes centered in his/her family and even if he/she takes up such work, is hardly successful.

vii
                  






                   Dr. Dilip Kumar Sarker, retd.  professor of Surgery, Silchar toured the whole of the north India for the success of the conference. Dr. Praveen J. Bhavsar, Secretary, NMO, remarked that in previous one year he had traveled (to Kolkata, Jaipur and a few trips to Delhi) more than in all his lifetime while living at Karnavati.

              Though the NMO was founded on November 5th, there were differences of opinion when to celebrate the Silver Jubilee as November 5 was a working day. The NMO President, Dr. P. T. Chandra Mouli closed the matter saying, “November 5 is not as per our Hindu calendar date and so it hardly matters on which day we observe it.” And so, November 10 was decided though I told them that I would be on fast for Chhath  on that day and it would not be possible for me to attend the concluding address by P.P. Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, Ma. K.S.Sudarshan (who graced the function, post-inaugural all sessions till the end). Dr.Yogesh Goyal, Agra, had told me that it would go against the discipline but I told him, “Accepted. But, reverence to God is more important than P. P. Sarsanghchalak, particularly when it does not upset the programme.”

              And, it became so as I had to be out in the afternoon for the Yamuna ghat, near the ITO. As sunset was approaching, I had to defy one-way pedestrian route - one policeman was angry at me but another person seeing me in dhoti only, told him that this festival was meant for the chhathvratis like me and thus  I could offer arghya (offerings). In the night, I came to Agra with the workers and in the morning, Yogesh took me to the Yamuna ghat there to offer the morning arghya, so that I could take  the same train at Tundla (as in Delhi it would  have been early morning there and I could not have caught it).

              I could not take even a drop of water on the Silver Jubilee Day due to my fast and jokingly I had told our workers in one of the preparatory meetings at the DMA Hall, “In the marriage of      a girl, the kanyadani (one who offers the bride to the groom) fasts and who can be better than me for this purpose.”


              The NMO is in full youth now and is already wedded to the cause of the nation and hence, I feel, my role is over as its founder… However, as a member and a worker, I will continue to work.  It is my earnest desire that the new generation should take up the NMO as they only can work as I could do while I was a student.

viii

           




 Contents                                Page
Foreword                                                                                     iv
The Silver Jubilee Conference of the National Medicos Organisation (NMO)    v
Preface                                                                                         xi
Indebtedness                                                                                       xiv
Prologue                                                                                     xv
Chapter I      Glimpses of Childhood in Maila Anchal (1955-70) 1
Chapter II  Introduction with Tribal India:My Pre-Medical days at ranchi (1970-73) 34

Chapter III   Back to Mithila : Admission to the Darbhanga Medical College (1973) 50

Chapter IV   My Pre-clinical Days (1973-75)                            55

Chapter V    Black Days of The National Emergency (1975-77)      63

Chapter VI     A  Girl Class mate  From Distant South                                           68

Chapter VII   ‘Third Year Syndrome’                                       71

Chapter VIII  My Adopted Tamilian Mother — Dr. Indira Ramaswamy     74

Chapter IX   Resigning from the Class Assistantship               77
Chapter X    The Jail Dairy of a Medico                                    79
Chapter XI      Foundation of the National Medicos Organisation (NMO) (1977)   83
Chapter XII  A Christmas in Burial Ground: Andhra Cyclone Relief Work            93
Chapter XIII  Dormant NMO : My unduly delayed Session of the Final MBBS (1978-79)  99
Chapter XIV   NMO Sprouts— My Internship and  ‘Housephysicianship’ (1980-82) 110
Chapter XV NMO in Controversy (1982-85)                                                            122
Chapter XVI Rejuvenation of Medicos Power : NMO Spreads Nationwide Again 132
ix

Chapter XVII  Hardships of an MD student : The Biography of A Medical Thesis (1983-85) 137
Chapter XVIII Glimpses of A Great Physician : My Guru  Dr. B. N. Das Gupta    145
Chapter XIX    Neurotraining under Dr. K. K. Sinha              149
Chapter XX    Editorial Service                                               153
Chapter XXI   Night Watchman of a Coal India Hospital : ‘Shift Neurosis’            156
Chapter XXII  Hovel of the Bihar State Health Service         162
Chapter XXIII  Taste of Private Practice at Ranchi                166
Chapter XXIV  Extended ‘Boardership’ at the RMCH, Ranchi 168
Chapter XXV    Marriage and Separation                                171
Chapter XXVI    Adieu Ranchi                                                192
Chapter XXVII   Epilogue:
                     (i)    Our Medical Institutions :    My Experiences     202
                     (ii)   My suggested Model of   Medical Education     246
                     (iii)  Reorganisation of Indian States - My Proposition         249
                     (iv)  My tryst with the Mithila-Maithili Work (1992-2009) 256
                     (v)   The NMO :
                            (A)  bfrgkl ds iUuksa ls &
                     AA lsok gh /keZ%AA                                   266
                            (B)   NMO Conferences - An Update          268
                            (C)   National Executive committee
                                    of the NMO - An Update                    269
                            (D)  NMO Units (wherever some
                                    programmes were organised
                                     - An Updated List as on 1.8.2009)     269
                            (E)   The NMO's Prime-movers
                                    (who initiated / helped  and established different units
                                    - State-wise alphabetically)                  270
                     (vi)  My suggestions for the Reformation   in Indian Democratic system          275
INDICES:  (A)  BOOKS AND MAGAZINES  279
                    (B)  ORGANISATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS  280
                    (C) PERSONS  291
                    (D)  Places  306
                                              (E)  MISCELLANEOUS (Including subject index and English
                                               words for non-English words used in the text, not  translated there)  315
                    (F)  IMPORTANT EVENTS-Date-wise/Year-wise  345
x

Preface

            The Autobiography of An Unknown Medico is probably the first autobiography of a medico, a Maithil (who count around 40 million population of the Indian subcontinent) and a committed  swayamsevak of the RSS (the largest voluntary organisation in the world)*.
            In my adolescence in 1969, I had an interesting meeting with Atalji, a swayamsevak, when he was a grass-root worker of   the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and had enough time to stay in a remote place like Forbesganj (my hometown on Indo-Nepal border in Bihar) for two days.
            This book deals with the narration of the sand and soil of the Mithila region from the angle of a boy who graduated to be  a doctor and dedicated to social service through founding of a national organisation of medicos in spite of being a part of the protracted political struggle through the famous Students’ Movement of 1974, the National Emergency and as its aftermath, rarely recognised freedom of expression under the shadow of the corrupt inheritors of  J. P., resulting in the loss of faith in the system itself.                                           ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*I left the RSS at the age of 52 on 2.8.2007, when I was unduly humiliated and threatened to be sent to jails(probably under the pride of the BJP's power in the coalition Govt.), at the  Yadava Smriti, Bangalore  City office for holding there the Foundation meeting of the National Software Engineers' Organisation(NSWEO) on 22.7.2007 for which Kaustubh, a Marathi Engineer swayamsevak had  not inform the Karyalaya Pramukh despite my instructions for that.(in that meeting apart from us. 3-4 swayamsevaks, only one outsider software engineer, Rajeev Ranjan Lall  had come and we finalized aims and objects and  skeleetal commitee with Prabhanjan of Delhi as the president The meeting was started with 'Ohm' and ended with 'Bande Mataram.'Though it had no connection with the RSS , such activities should have been  appreciated.  National Organisations in the fields of pharmacy, bpotech, nursing, pysiotherapy, medical lab. technicians, different discipleines of engineering, finance, management, agriculture, veterinary, etc. on the line of the NMO are the need of the day for which young  persons if come up, I will be still glad to help. 
            Despite my apology (and reference to the P.P. Sarsanghchalak,Ma. K.S.Sudarshan and Ma. Suryanarayan Rao), I was escorted to the Keshav Krupa as if a prisoner The Prant Pracharak said there that I cannot persue NMO work being in the Sangh Karyalaya as they were instructed to work for the Arogya Bharati. I had an interrupted 57 nights stay (26 nights at Keshavkrupa+one night at Madhav Krupa, Mysore +30 nights at Yadava Smriti  out of 490 days  (from  30.3.2007, I came to Bangaloreto 1.8.2007),. 'Are you quitting today?" I merely replied,"I have already quit." (After  readinng a letter to Ma. K.S. Sudarshan that I am lving the Sangh. I left the RSS but not the .nationalism.'(Finding nowhere to go, I took a MST(monthly Season Ticket) between Bangalore City and Mysore  in Rs.370, that evening to sleep in  last train which continued for two months rsulting in a good travalogue,Life on Wheels(Railvas in Hindi and Maithili).

xi


  
            The unfair means in the examinations in Bihar has been described raw, still the State could produce some of the best talents in the world.
            The description of my premedical  days at Ranchi can be read as a chapter on tribal life and its distinct culture eventually resulting in the formation of Jharkhand .
            A bourgeois class like medico, cannot struggle but I had been in jail in a movement for banning capitation-fee based medical colleges described vividly in my jail diary.    
            Medical students(Medicos) cross through the milestones of ragging, terminal and final examinations with an oasis of love affairs, 'third year syndrome',  internship and strikes for enhancing stipend, mania for P. G. and debris of a medical thesis. Then a young doctor faces competition with quacks when posted in a periphery and can hardly cope up with the stinking state health secretariat or union leaders and bosses of public sectors. Moreover, without financial and or emotional support one cannot stand in the field of medical practice as I have tasted all the above tribulations, in my career; all these are dealt with in this book. Apart from those life experiences, a young medico can find many examination tips which would be interesting to elders as well.
            There have been few instances in the contemporary Indian history that a full-fledged, scientifically trained doctor opts to delve deeply for the mitigation of social evils and in the process though I fell a prey to that, still I worked for the welfare of humanity.  Study, job, marriage and family cycle is sometimes an enigma for such workers and this book provides an easy reading for one who can imagine the plight of a person who happens to be a member of an Indian middle class.
            The system of medical education, churning out our doctors needs a remedial correction which is provided in this small book through the passages of  medical hostels and institutions numbering 148 (+ many dental  Ayurvedic and para-medical and research institutions and hospitals) by my personal visits for the purpose of a welcome change, applauded by the personalities like Acharya Vinoba Bhave and H. H. Swami Chinmayanand. The description is not only of the bricks of medical institutions but also of the nascent medicos in their beehives and of the beauty of the land — be it greenery of Kerala or the deserts of Rajasthan.
            A man needs social support and the RSS, though controversial on many counts came up for the nation-building project of this medico and the organisation thus founded—  the National Medicos Organisation (NMO) has its own contribution to the suffering humanity much more than Nobel Peace Prize winning medical societies of the West whether in peace or in natural calamities, starting from the devastating cyclone in Andhra (1977) to the super-cyclone in Orissa (1999) or from an earthquake in Killari (1993) or Tsunami disaster (2004)(Cover IV)-  to Bhuj (2001) where the NMO started working   from the day one and  ran Dr. Hedgewar Hospital for six months or from the MIC holocaust of Bhopal (1984) to the  epidemic of plague in Surat (1994), etc.
xii




             The saga of the NMO’s foundation story also unfolds the mysteries of the RSS and its working, which is largely unknown to an outsider. The NMO story reflects the story of the Sangh Parivar formation and the development of a boy into a mature worker as a result of this process.        
                       
            My report on ‘Free Flow of Drugs Nurturing Militancy’ carried by the PTI in 1992, probably the first such report, attracted attention of many and my belief  that journalism could change the scenario was strengthened, particularly in the IT-era and hence, I continued editing several journals (e.g. the Aayurvigyan Pragati, the Maithili Sandesh, etc.) and also became a columnist of  the Ranchi Express.
            Apart from my vision on restructuring democratic systems  and institutions of our country, one will also find my proposition  for the reorganisation of States in India in the era of formation of new states, so far done most unscientifically, mostly on the whims of the politicians. In fact, very few statesmen would have toured the interiors of the     country as extensively as this humble worker has been tirelessly doing since 1977. In a federal system, States are a must but how many and which ones?
            One cannot ignore the area he/she belongs to and I too have worked for the Mithila region through the International Maithili Conferences in India and Nepal and hardly an example will be found where the language has been used for the process of socioeconomic regeneration of its inhabitants — linguistic conferences discussing the Koshi floods, industrialisation, tourism promotion, etc.
            Apart from the updated epilogue and few postscripts here and there, the main substance of this book was written as a ‘suicide note’ (though I gave up this idea while writing the manuscript) in 1989, (after the failure of my ‘ideal’ marriage solemnised without any dowry) but could not be completed due to several mental constraints, most importantly the legal wrangles of contesting the divorce petition filed by my wife, rare for a male, hoping for a happy union in the end but I could only wander in the Raj of  justice and could reassert, “The only people who win in divorce cases are the lawyers!” Emotionally, a wife-battered, I could write few poems, in one of them (included in this book), I have compared myself with the nagphani (cactus), again very rarely chosen by poets.
            One will be amused to find the suspicion of the ‘fodder scam’ (a ‘human’ medical shop was preferred to be converted to a veterinary  medical shop at Ranchi in 1989), the turbulent fight with friends like Sushil Modi and Govindacharya on the organisational issues and the so called ‘social engineering’ may be seen as seeds among them in this narration while they were unknown to the political world.
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            This book provides an insight into a person who has to pay  a price of his personal comforts during a period of the pseudo-socialistic development of Bharat that is India since 1955 when India, embraced socialism.
            As a piece of literature, it may be accepted by anyone who knows the ABC of  English though I have found several interesting flaws in the English language itself while studying it as a school student.
            While entering the third millennium, one should know the other half of the unsung world and so a title of ‘unknown’ has been taken up by me, as I am one among those medicos, who work for the society and are rarely acknowledged, remain ‘unhonoured, unwept and unsung’.                                 
    Dhanakar Thakur

Indebtedness
I conceived the ideas to write my autobiography as presented in this book towards the end of my medical ‘studentship’ during 1980, which ultimately culminated with the writing of this book in 1989. All those years, I had a lot of support and inspiration from my association with juniors, seniors, friends and workers of the National Medicos Organisation (NMO) and the Antarrashtriya Maithili Parishad  that I could conclude this book.
Still I feel, it is a million times better to do something worth writing than writing something worth reading.     
    Dhanakar Thakur
I am aware of the stupendous effort you have made for establishing the Medico Movement across the length and breadth of the country With my very best wishes." Dr. B. B. Tripathy, Cuttack, ex-president, the Association of Physicians of India, 5.7.1999.
Dear Dr. Thakur,
      My vision is nearly gone. I cannot read mss and write about them. Please forgive me.
(Khushwant Singh)
(due to long delay in sending the manuscript, i could not get blessings of Mr. Singh, which he had promised -Dhanakar).
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Prologue
August 1, 1989
            My 34th, Birthday. I went to the blood-bank of the Rajendra Medical College Hospital, Ranchi at 10.30 a.m. and donated my blood to celebrate my birthday. Exemplary, although possibly not the only one to do so. The Blood Bank Officer said that even if we had eight donations a day we could meet the needs of the population of Ranchi which was about 0.8 million.
            I returned with a young medico. I did not go to my clinic nor I expected any patient would be waiting where I had been practicing for 10 months. Practicing without exploitation of one’s position in a government hospital was difficult in this city! Yet,  I had to stay in this city because the Central Office of a national organisation of medicos, the NMO (National Medicos Organisation) was situated here. Though, I am the founder of this organisation, I wished to be known only as its Organising Secretary.
            I had published a research paper on SLE during my   ‘house physicianship’. I was the man behind the publication of Progress in Clinical Neurosciences 1985 and 1986 volumes having contributions from five continents.
            Acharya Vinoba Bhave had appreciated my social work and had blessed me. I said good-bye to the GOI's undertaking and the Bihar State Health Services. My elder brother had forsaken me and even my dearest wife had deserted me,
            I am now engaged in writing several books — Internal  Medicine in the Indian Context*, Clinical Methods for Indian Students of Pediatrics, a small biography of the greatest Indologist Max Muller in Hindi, a book on health education for common man ¼vkidk LokLF;&vkids gkFk½] a manual for social workers ¼lkekftd laxBuksa esa euq"; laxzg ,oa lek;kstu½] a collection of my stories and poems in  Maithili,** Hindi*** and English**** and that of compiling Maithili and Sanskrit poems and others written by my parents***** and so on.
             Even if these are completed, I shall not be the only person to do so. Should I now take up an autobiography?

* New  Trends in Medicine (a publication of the API, Bihar ) edited by Dr. K.K. Sinha and  me was released on 18.3.1999.
** Maithili-Gita  (since 2006 available on web), Jaynagar san Jayanagar Tak, Kono Shahar  Basi Jao,  Hamar Gam Ujadi Gel, Railvas
***Hindi Tum bolte Ho, Tum Musalman Ho, Railvas
****Absolute, Life on Wheels,  A Car Journey of 2000 Kilometer (since 2006 available on web), Maithil Bangalore Saga (since 2006 available on web),  Indians as I  found, Coincidences, An Unknown Bangalorean's views-(my  unpublished and published letters to the editors  while I was at Bangalore)
*****Swajivan Charitra (Atmakatha)***(Autobiography of father, since 2006 available on web).

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            In his introduction to Scholar Extraordinary (a biography of Max Mueller), Sir Nirad C. Chaudhuri, says, “Biography (of  a  person) is deserving not only by the strength of his position and position in his own age, unless in addition, he played so important and significant  a role in the history that he remains an element to be reckoned with in understanding the continuing evolution of a particular group of humanity in general; nor unless his personality and activities belong to a type whose presence and functioning is continuous and universal, so that no outstanding individual of the type ever loses his relevance to all ages."
            I have completed 34 years of life. Christ, Shankaracharya and Vivekananda, by this age had nearly completed their life mission and shown light to humanity. No biographer will ever be able to recollect all they possessed and gifted to the generations.
            I consider myself only an ordinary man and do not claim to be even a billionth of any such personalities. I am only a person, not  a personality.
            A paralysed, dysphasic, disabled, semiliterate, Negro woman of 35, Pauline Wiltshire has produced her autobiography (Living and winning) to prove to the people that she was not   a  fool, and that she could lead a normal life.
            Though I have been working for a particular group (medicos)* most intimately connected with humanity, I am aware that I do not crave for a biography. In this autobiography, I try to tell my story as to how a most common man leading a normal life can contribute something to the society.
            Aldous Huxley has said that a ‘biography’ is the presentation of personal events and ‘history’ of social events, but most of them have overlapping. Likewise, this autobiography is in the context of  25 years (1955-1989) of national history, perceivable from the angle of an ordinary child, boy and person who developed into a medico, who has the credit of visiting 60** medical colleges, out of 106***, in the country (probably a record for a person aged 33) like a Yayavar (a wanderer) with the aim of national reconstruction.

* and also since 1992, as an organiser of the Mithila-Maithili work.
** And by 12. 12. 2018 visited 164 (+ 6 only seen from the road) medical colleges and also 9 purely PG medical institutions (+ 2 only seen from the road)in India and also the TUTH (Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital), Kathmandu and the BPKIHS (B.P.Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan in Nepal, totalling 1183 medical institutions.
***228 (206 recognised by the MCI  till 24.6.2009 and 22  were permitted for the year 2009-10 to admit total 26705 MBBS students. Which has increased o 476 colleges with admission strength of 60680 by Dec. 2018.

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