CHAPTER IX

RESIGNING FROM THE CLASS

ASSISTANTSHIP

During the days of my paramedical classes, I was impressed by the lectures of Prof. S. N. Varma.(Fig. 12 — Prof. Shankara Nand Varma, BSc (BHU), MBBS (Pat.),MSc (Manch.), PhD (Manch.),

(31.12.1923-15.5.1999)

An Ideal Teacher)

Out of humility, he did not prefix his name on pads by Dr. though a PhD. Later he met my monetary needs for 18 months when I took admission in MD.

He never talked anything other than Pathology and exactly on 45th minute, the points mentioned on the blackboard were completed with the fall of the chalk from his hand, without seeing the watch. Equally impressive was Prof. A. B. Khan who used to prepare his lecturers with much labour. But everyone was not like those two great teachers. Once, students mimicked a teacher’s pronunciation. The teacher left the classroom abruptly.

Later Prof. Varma came and expressed his disappointment with our behaviour. I was so aggrieved that I stood up and suggested that our classes should be suspended till the students apologised to the teacher. Anyhow, the matter was settled.

During Holi girls were expressing comments on boys and vice-versa. I did not know what prompted them but they titled me Searchlight of the Nation, probably seeing The Searchlight, or The Indian Nation newspapers every morning in my hands. The Searchlight Press, Patna, was burnt during 1974-Students’ agitation days, as it was critical of the Government. Later, the Hindustan Times replaced The Searchlight.

I always had the choice of backbenches where I could sit comfortably and also could read the things I liked or I slept. In my pre-clinical days, once on the middle benches, I was caught sleeping in the post-lunch class by a teacher, Dr. K. M. Dubey, whom we used to call ‘Hitler’. But I have the rare faculty that I, for sometimes at least, can write or even talk in the phase of tandra, so I protested and produced the copy-book wherein the last line he had said was recorded. Though I admit, I was sleeping. During those days, a friend’s brother doing research on the Ramcharitmanas had observed that I had given relevant reply for pretty long while I was asleep.

So during those days, on the backbenches, I used to read books, on Philosophy, like that of Chesterton’s Orthodoxy or stories of O. Henry, etc. But some friends had the habit of drawing sketches of the teachers who were delivering lectures. Once, it was pointed out by a professor of Microbiology and surprisingly it was so, a friend of mine produced his copybook with the sketch of that professor.

I had appeared for the class assistantship examination of PSM and on the basis of my essay on the Comprehensive Health Care, I was selected. Prof. D. P. Sinha was holding the class. The students whistled when some girls came late. The professor protested and restarted his lecture. Again another girl came, a whistle, again a protest. Again another girl came, again a whistle. The professor stopped his lecture and sat down. There was a long silence.

Suddenly, I stood up and said, “I am resigning from the class assistantship. My written resignation follows.” The class was shocked. The boys apologised to the teacher for their misbehaviour. The teacher blessed me. Later on, in 1980, Prof D. P. Sinha came to join the NMO conference, at the PMC, Patna, even though it was the financial closing day i.e. 31st March, and he was the principal of the NMC, Patna. Students were later joking at me as if I was Ghanshyam Ojha that I had resigned (Ojha had resigned from the Chief Ministership of Gujarat during Nav Nirman Movement). I replied that I knew it was not an elected post but the class assistants should also be responsible for the discipline in the classroom.

 Chapter X

THE JAIL DIARY OF A MEDICO

(An English translation of the memoirs published in Hindi in the DMC Magazine, 1982.)

Background — in 1977, an agitation was launched in Bihar* for distinguishing the merits between the students of the government and non-government medical colleges. Even today, the opinion ranging right from the common countrymen to the Prime Minister, is, that the system of ‘capitation-fee’ is not justifiable**. Still it is prevalent in our country. Our agitation started with a token strike on 22nd April which gradually intensified to an indefinite strike, satyagrah and filling up the jail. On August 3, the statewide agitation came to an end at the behest of the appeal made by Jay Prakash Narayan. The following pages of the diary are not the analysis of the cause, result or justification of the satyagrah, but the truth experienced between the ‘red walls’.

13th July

The police were active in the campus for many days. This morning it was known that the police had camped in the hospital. On coming to the hospital, it seemed that they were determined to arrest some agitating students. Students were few, the police were many more. But gradually students proceeded towards the hospital. They raised slogans.

After the police had arrested us, we reached the police station in a police van. Dr. S. N. Sinha, In-Charge, Students’ Section, was already present there for keeping the records. We were taken to jail from Laheriasarai P. S. on foot and we entered the jail crossing the waiting satyagrahis at the big gate of the jail. No major trouble occurred in the jail but it was felt that we had lost something. As there was a large group of students inside the jail, nothing was unusual. Ours was the third batch of students received by the previous batches and the process went on as fresh batches of students came inside the jail, one after another totaling 141 students.

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* Including Jharkhand

* Finally on 14.8.2003, the Supreme Court of India prohibited capitation-fee.

We selected for us Ward No.13, which was popular as the MISA ward or the Jayprakashi ward. Written on the barrack was ‘Suraj Bhavan’ (on the name of the famous revolutionary of the Mithila region, Suraj Narayan Singh). After some time five friends came whom the police had taken into their custody while they were on fast; they however, continued their fast in the jail compound under an Ashoka tree. Then one of my classmates came. When I enquired for the reason of his delay, he told, “I was busy in writing letters and posting them to the editors of the dailies.” It was beyond his imagination, how much time it would take to echo the voice of common men from the press, committed to the establishment.

14th July

We had our breakfast of kachauri-jalebi sent by Principal Dr. T. N. Jha. Some convicted prisoners had started cooking our food. Some students had learnt from the radio belonging to the jailor that the government had declared us ‘anti-social elements’. Immediately a meeting was convened. We put up a notice for mass fast and refused to be locked up and the jailor was informed accordingly. Some students, not accustomed to fasting could not do it and mid-night rain compelled us to go inside as we were in the open.

On getting up in the morning, our most difficult problem was to use the service latrine of the eighteenth century model. We felt that this was to be borne till we were there. There was a meeting after the daily rituals. Different committees were formed for management. Fast was broken with bread and butter but it was decided that five students would go on fast-unto-death and eight students would be on relay fast.

Throat-choking rice in food; prohibition on listening to news on radio despite strong desires (as a reaction of night’s incident); counting after meals (How many asamis?) — Now we felt, “What a jail was?” In the evening on the clarification of the D. M. (on branding us ‘anti-social elements’), students broke fast.

15th July

In the morning, foul smell of latrine; daily rituals; breakfast; lunch; rest; visiting guests of one or the other at the gate; evening snacks— banana or egg; counting of prisoners after supper; again lock up at around 10 p.m.

Some students were now trying to be released on bail. How a class hitherto in comforts could remain in such difficulties?

16th July

Today two students were bailed out. In the morning, my elder brother came. It was a matter of satisfaction that he did not talk about bail. Today a minister also came to meet us. For maintaining the morale of the students, we started a series of meetings and lectures in the evening.

Today some students of the local colleges were nabbed for supplying chits to the examinees and they were brought in the jail. An ex-MP of the CPI and a dignified leader had come to meet them. How the sanctity of examination could be maintained in such an atmosphere?

Since the previous day, I was discussing with the bedi-bandi naxalite leader, Comrade Umadhar Singh on the ‘change in the system’. The other bedi-bandi for a long time in the cell, an elder political prisoner, Sarv Narayan Chaudhary presented me a garland of beli flowers, being pleased with my discussion. What more a prisoner could present?

17th July

Today we started academic work to keep ourselves mentally busy. Senior student Chandra Mohan Jha lectured on viral diseases. On the other side, competitions of playing cards and chess were arranged. Many medicos were taking new training in cards and smoking. Now I can understand how and why jails have been converted into ‘corruption training camps’ instead of reformation centres. It depends upon one’s standard what and how much one can learn from them?

18th July

Today many friends have been released on bail. Now we are only 123. A condemnation resolution was passed in the evening meeting. The jailor wanted that we should relieve him by going out on P. R. (Personal Release) Form.

19th July

In the evening meeting, the jailor came with the P. R. Forms, which were torn by us. A preacher of yesterday has gone out today on bail; he was condemned for preaching others. It is an old and major factor for the weakness of the people’s movement in this country.

20th July

Now we are only 114. I could not go to the evening recreation session due to mess duty. In the night there was discussion on the ambiguous meaning of ‘released theoretically’. Today we boycotted visiting guests from outside so that they could work for strengthening the agitation outside.

Dr. B. N. Sinha and Dr. N. P. Mishra came today with bulk of biscuits as presentation. The Paediatrics department has sent chocolates. Student-teacher relationship is certainly sweet in this college.

21st July

Today we were awarded better ‘grade’— it means, now we will get good food, clothes, etc. like political prisoners. Lunch was very good but in the evening we were released on the Govt. orders. In spite of provoking mismanagement in the jail, we have become intimate with the Asst. Jailor. The regular prisoners were also sorry. They were now getting good food due to our protest — as even common patient is well treated when few VIPs are admitted into general wards. We were allowed to bring clothes, blankets, etc. while coming out. We came out with the theme ^Lora= gS ;g /kjk] Lora= vkleku gS* (This earth is free; the sky is free). Some friends were repenting why they missed shoes and clothes and also they were befooled by giving fee to advocates unnecessarily for coming out on bail, only one or two days earlier.

After coming to the hostel, first I went to the latrine. (Now, we learn that clean Sulabh Shauchalayas are going to be constructed in every jail of Bihar*!).

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• including Jharkhand

 CHAPTER XI

FOUNDATION OF THE

NATIONAL MEDICOS ORGANISATION (NMO)

(1977)

After coming out of the jail, I had a bitter experience of political leaders who only proved to be the birds of the same feather on the issue of the closing down of the capitation-fee based medical colleges. All politicians, be of the Janata Party, the Congress or even the Communists, had the same colour. Providing admission to their children or wards without capitation-fee obliged many of them. A large number of students admitted to such colleges were wards of influential guardians. They fought their battle like life and death. Even a personality like J. P. could not support providing justice to the students of the Govt. medical colleges, say, few extra marks for their PMT examination’s superiority in merit. Instead, the capitation-fee was abolished but the colleges were taken over by the Govt. benefiting the students and teachers of private medical colleges.

I had disillusionment from the politics in the jail itself, even senior workers of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) did not come out in our support (though later on, they led unsuccessfully such an agitation in Karnataka) as they had workers in non-governmental medical colleges as well. While we were in jail, none of them came to see us.

I had written a letter to Ma. M. G. Deoji, the then Organiser of the Bihar* State of the RSS in deep sorrow that had I been at Delhi or Patna, or Arun Jaitley / Sushil Modi were involved such negligence would not have happened. It has been my old notion that we are capitalists at least in one sense that we listen to voices prevailing in the capitals only. Deoji has been working in Bihar* since 1940 and I think though a Marathi, he has travelled to every nook and corner of Bihar*, more than any Bihari**. He has known me since my childhood. He told me that since it was a students’ problem, he had referred my letter to Govindacharya of the ABVP.

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* Including Jharkhand

** or Jharkhandi

On the day of Kunwar Singh Victory Day (23rd April) in 1976, I had seen Deoji on the nearby road passing through my college and he had informed me that Dr. Shrikant Shiledar and Dr. (Mrs.) Shilpa Shiledar had left for Nagpur as the Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra Hospital, Lohardaga had also been sealed by the Govt. due to its connections with the Sangh.

In that background, I was thinking in those days as to what could be done for the medical community. Only after five days of the withdrawal of the agitation, Govindacharya visited Darbhanga on the 8th August 1977, on Rabindra Smriti Divas. While seeing him off at the station, I could get a few minutes to explain to him the distinctive problems of medicos and suggested that if something like the Medical Chhatra Parishad was formed we could sort out our problems instead of fighting amongst ourselves and we could also provide a platform for wider social service so as to help the Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra, with medical man-power. He told me to write down these ideas and to send them to him so that they could discuss in the Central Committee Meeting to be held at Bombay, probably on 25th August.

I was thinking over the proposal and on the weekend, I went to my ancestral village, Samaul (in Madhubani district). On Sunday, the 14th August, 1977, it occurred to me that now it would be too late, if I did not send my ideas for discussion and I woke up after post-lunch nap and scribbled on paper, the manifesto entitled Seva Hi Dharmah (Service is Religion), given in original in Hindi in the Chapter XXVII - Epilogue (V)-(A), Pg. nos. 266-277, with the aims and the organisational nature of the proposed medical organisation.

I posted the draft to him on 19th August and copies of the same to Ma. Eknath Ranade, Kanyakumari and Ma. Bala Saheb Deoras, Nagpur on 20th August. I had been very much impressed by Eknathji’s address at Ranchi on 28.4.1973 and was willing to have his guidance for the proposed organisation, since he had been widely acclaimed as the founder of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. Though, he could not guide us, I, as ‘Eklavya’, worked on the few principles he had enunciated at Ranchi :

^uk{kja ea=jfgra u ewye~ vukS"k/ke~A

v;ksX;% iq:"k% ukfLr] ;kstd% r= nqyZHke~AA*

(There is no letter which cannot be used in a mantra, no vegetable which cannot be used as a medicine, no man is worthless, what is needed is a good organiser).

I referred to Ma. Eknath Ranade with this shloka when I had the occasion to introduce the NMO, in the First Conference at Patna on 30.3.1980.

The Central Meeting of the ABVP at Bombay approved the ideas outlined in my dispatch to them. On October 3, 1977, in the Bihar* State Conference of the ABVP at Darbhanga, the assembled medicos (from Darbhanga. Patna and Muzaffarpur) had a meeting in the presence of Govindacharya, where I again pushed my ideas. Later Govindji told me to come to join the 23rd National Conference of the ABVP at Varanasi scheduled from Nov. 4 to 6, if I was serious with my ideas. I was also nominated a member of the Bihar* State Executive Committee of the ABVP, though I was not even its primary member. The local Divisional Organiser of the Sangh, Jiveshwar Mishra consented and withdrew his proposal for me to work as Nagar Bauddhik Pramukh.

I also thought that it was an important work and therefore I left for Varanasi, forgoing extra classes of Pathology and Histopathology while final examination was also at hand. On the way, at Patna, I heard the historic appreciation by J. P. for the Sangh while he was addressing its training camp.

In technical terms, I had gone abroad (Nepal’s Biratanagar, only a few km from Forbesganj) and outside the state (coastal Jagannathpuri) but Varanasi was the biggest city I had seen so far. People say it is on the trishul of Lord Shiva. I think Kashi is the religious-centre-capital of the motherland, spread and bounded triangularly from the points of Kashmir, Kamrup and Kanyakumari.

I also witnessed for the first time such a huge gathering of youth, visited the shrines and places of Varanasi and even talked for the first time with some French tourists speaking in their language. But, I did not know that God had ordained me to come to Kashi where he was to use me as a paper or a pen to write a new chapter in the medical history of the land, in the city of the legendary Dhanwantari Himself.

But it was not so easy. I met Govindji and asked him as to what he had planned. He in reply said that as he was too busy in the management, Mahesh Sharma (General Secretary), programme in-charge of the conference, should be contacted and he alone could convene a meeting of the medicos. My friend from Muzaffarpur, Om Prakash Singh, was an old ABVP activist and he could procure the permission for the meeting and its announcement in that large tent-township.

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* Including Jharkhand

I was also told that a senior worker, Laxmi Kant Bhala would be in the meeting who later asked me to address the meeting myself due to his busy schedule. Initially the organising secretary of the ABVP, Bihar*, Chandreshwarji had assured me that in case nobody came up; he would be joining our meeting.

I thought, only an announcement might not work and so I should meet medicos personally from tent to tent. Ajay Jindal of Amritsar took keen interest in canvassing with me. Later, I learnt, medicos of Amritsar had also such ideas already in their minds for such a separate organisation.

On the morning of the 5th Nov., there was the address by Prof. Rajendra Singh, in a nearby shakha. Bhauraoji was also present there. I knew them personally. After the shakha was over, I told Bhauraoji about the proposed organisation and requested him to come to our meeting in the afternoon. He was happy to know about the intention of a service-oriented medical organisation but expressed his inability to attend the meeting owing to some prior engagements.

He, however, assured me that he would be meeting us in future and suggested to me to speak to Ma. Madan Das, the National Organising Secretary of the ABVP. I did not know at that time the significance of this post (I had come for the first time in any such conference and as such was not well-versed with it). Moreover, I was thinking that I had already talked to the National President, Bal Apte and General Secretary, Mahesh Sharma. I could hear Ma. Madan Das in the concluding session only. I was pleased to listen to his appeal for starting the change from ‘I’. Subsequently we were quite friendly.

I had already brought a few blank un-ruled copybooks for the use of the organisation. Since the time allotted to us for our meeting was only 30 minutes, I told Ashok Kr. Shrivastava of Patna, to cut papers in small pieces for identity slips. He wrote: name, class, college, roll no, address for correspondence and permanent address, putting blanks therein to be filled up by the attending medicos.

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* Including Jharkhand

I requested Dr. Kripa Shankar, a paediatrician of Varanasi (who had passed from the Darbhanga Medical College) and who was in-charge of the dispensary for that conference, to preside over that meeting. Identity slips were distributed (5 min.); the preface and aims of the proposed organisation were put up by me (10 min.); the medicos were asked to submit the names they suggested for the organisation (5 min.); active members’ names for the executive committee were asked (5 min.); a few queries and the address of the president (10 min); totaling 30 minutes. No Sooner had the time elapsed, I received a slip from Mahavir Dutt Giri that press conference was to be held there and so I should finish in time.

This is the history of those 30 minutes. Those who were present there themselves were probably unaware of the fact that they were creating a history. Since the time was short, I could not reply to the last question from a friend from Bihar whom I had asked to talk in the tent as he was from my state. After coming to Darbhanga, I wrote to him, in the care of the address of a known boy (since the medicos of Ranchi had not deposited their identity slips). Later, in 1981, he became the Secretary of the NMO but it took much time to convince that friend Mrityunjoyji. Such things were inevitable in such a short meeting.

The names of the members attending the meeting institution/place-wise, were:

Varanasi - Dr. P. N. Gupta, Dr. Kripa Shankar;

DMC,Darbhanga -- Dhanakar Thakur;

ANMMC, Gaya -- Sunil Kr. Singh;

PMC, Dhanbad -- Gopal Krishna Nair;

SKMC, Muzaffarpur -- Om Prakash Singh;

NMC, Patna -- Arun Kr. Singh;

PMC, Patna -- Ashok Kr. Shrivastava;

RMC, Ranchi -- Dr. Shanti Prakash, Mrityunjoy Kr.;

BSMC, Bankura -- Subhash Sarkar, Badal Asru Ghata;

GMC, Guwahati -- Nayan Jyoti Das, Lohit Baishya, Uday Kr. Sharma;

Pt. BDSPGIMS, Rohtak -- Bhim Sain Sharma, Sushil Saini;

GMC, Amritsar-- Ajay Jindal, Ashwani Sharma, Bharat;

GMC, Bhopal -- Kuldeep Saxena, Rajendra Agrawal;

GRMC, Gwalior -- Dr. Vishwas Sapre, Dr. Ravindra Arora, Vinod Gupta;

BJMC, Ahmadabad-- Manilal O. Chhotaliya;

MPSMC, Jamnagar -- Bhaumik V. Upadhyay, Bhavna I. Mehta ;

GMC, Nagpur -- Dhananjay V. Chati;

OMC, Hyderabad - M. Pulla Reddy, P. Raghava Reddy,

J. Nag Manohar, N.G. Nirmala , Deepika Siri, N.G. Geetha;

BMC, Bangalore -- Ram Das Mallya;

G. D. C. & H. (Govt. Dental College & Hospital), Hyderabad -- A. Surendar.

So, apart from Varanasi, we were from 18 medical colleges, and one dental college. Actual attendance was a few more than 37 as enumerated above and I am unable to recollect them.

There were some medicos from Ayurveda and Homeopathy as well and in fact, we took them initially in the organisation, but the very next day, they demanded equal representation in all bodies and I found myself not in a position to satisfy them and later on with the advice of Chandreshwarji, I dropped the idea of one single organisation for all pathys.

I had already mentioned in my first draft that we should have separate organisations in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Agriculture and Veterinary and Engineering; to this later, I liked to add Accountancy and Management. I also advised some of the inquisitive engineering students who were observing our meeting to organise themselves like us.

Then we had the problem of finally selecting a name for the organisation. I had talks with Maheshji also who had told me to have some attractive name, maybe in English. I along with Om Prakash Singh and Ravindra Keshari (a very senior worker of the ABVP, Bihar*) went through the collected slips of the proposed names. There were many, both in Hindi and in English.

We decided in favour of English, as also due to the non-availability of a single word in Hindi substituting the word medicos as in English which meant to include a medical practitioner plus a medical student and more so for the simplicity in the use of the word medico to facilitate the working of a newly formed organisation.

Our final issue was to find out the best name from amongst the three : National Medicos Association/Organisation/Council.

As ‘Association’ was simulating with the IMA and ‘Council’ with the MCI, we opted for-

NATIONAL MEDICOS ORGANISATION (NMO).

Thus the NMO was born as if an Indian edition of the WHO to cater to the needs and welfare of the one-seventh global human population, attractive, phonetically simulating to even the WHO and stimulating the medicos to its spirits.

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* Including Jharkhand

Much later from the slips received, I noticed that though Dr. Shanti Prakash of Ranchi suggested ‘National Medicos Association’, it was a permutation and combination taking ‘Organisation’ from some other medico’s ‘All India Medical Organisation.’ (My own suggested name was Akhil Bhartiya Chikitsak Mahapariwar or All India Medical Grand Family). I still feel, the final choice of the NMO was the best, one could think of.

I had a wish that the NMO should work for the nation like the Red Cross. Not only it has proved so but also surprisingly in 1989, I could know that the Indian Red Cross itself was also born on 5th November (in 1920).

Then, there was a committee to be formed. Seeing the largest number from Hyderabad, I told Om Prakash to name Pulla Reddy as the General Secretary and also to have our office at Hyderabad but he insisted that since it was a new work, I must act as the General Secretary. I was apprehensive that people might think, I was working for the name (and it happened so later) but on his insistence, I had to agree. Had he or anyone else agreed, it would have been easier for me either to roll the cart or as per his guess the chapter would have been closed. After the whole thing was drafted, I had a talk with Mahesh Sharma who was amazed to find such progress and asked me to give him some cyclostyled copies of the press release, which he later distributed in the afternoon press conference.

The press release had mentioned the objectives of the NMO and its Executive Committee. It was mentioned that the NMO would mobilise medicos on a common national platform to serve the poor, particularly in the rural areas. The objectives of the NMO would be to develop national character among medicos, creating a sense of devotion towards the nation and the humanity and also creating fraternity amongst the students of different systems of medicine.

It was also envisaged that it would extend active co-operation to the ABVP and other patriotic and like-minded organisations in different fields of constructive work.

It would share the responsibility of delivering primary healthcare services in the villages, concentrating on One College, One Village programme in keeping pace with the Gram Vikash Programme of the ABVP.

The news was flashed by the national dailies all over the country. When I reached my ancestral village, my uncle had brought a copy of The Indian Nation, of Patna. In the 14th November’s issue it had a big coverage, most aptly captioned, Medicos Body to Serve Poor Formed.

When I returned to Darbhanga, friends were congratulating me but I was in a deeply perplexed mood as to how to shoulder the new responsibility? I drafted the first circular; showed it to many; got it cyclostyled and posted them to all the founding members.

Now when I look at this circular, I am amazed to read my own ideas. I had asked for the suggestions for the draft of the membership form, the place for the Central Office and its first national conference; issue and contents of monthly bulletin, and also sent to them the guidelines for forming various college and state units, One College, One Village Programme and appointing project-in-charges of the same besides collecting donations and for financing tours; a fixed share of which was to be borne by each personally and did also mention that the correspondence would be the ‘blood’ of the NMO and if possible to send postal stamps for reply. Sending news-cuttings was requested and a proposal for issuing identity letters for fraternity promotional tours of medicos was suggested.

Myself being from a remote corner of the country, I wished to see that finest day of my life when I could hand over my responsibility to some other able member at the first National Conference.

Much water would have flown in the Ganga through the famous ghats of Varanasi, many promises would have been made by the persons at the helm of the upheaval of the second independence, a revolution, brought by ballots and more so by the illiterates who liberated even the literates by giving mandate against the National Emergency. And, by others and others... Only people can judge what had been done and what should have been done.

But as far as the NMO is concerned, its roots have gone deep and the NMO has taken its pledge to every word of it and it has been pure and dedicated to the humanity, so divine like the divinity and purity of mother Ganga in every drop of its water.

Concluding this chapter, I humbly wish to suggest that nobody should assume that someone is a founder of this divine organisation. Divinity is neither born nor is dead at any time. As I have pointed out already; I was playing merely the role of a paper or a pen of Him and for this I was grateful to Him and the medicos who had given me this opportunity to learn and serve.

Tolstoy in War and Peace says,’ It is not the leader who makes society or brings change, it is the society which in a particular set-up of environment brings about a change in itself and so somebody comes up as a leader on the surface.’

When I later toured, many medicos, seniors and juniors, all over the country (from Punjab to A.P.) told me that they too had such ideas in their minds and they were happy to know that such an organisation existed. And, this was the environment, which prompted me to work. Hence, the Office Secretary of our great organisation, the NMO, subsequently honoured me as its first life member.

 Aims and Objects of theNMO

(a) To create a nationwide organisation of the medicos on a democratic basis, irrespective of caste, colour, creed and sex for ‘positive health’ of the nation.

(b) To work for the all round welfare and development of the medical profession.

(c) To utilise their energy and dissemination of the medical knowledge for solving the various health problems of the down-trodden people of the nation particularly for the rural and tribal people with the help of central and state governments, educational, professional and voluntary organisations.

(d) To work for satisfying the basic needs of the medicos and to guide and help them in solving their various problems arising from time to time.

(e) To develop national character and discipline among the medicos.

(f) To promote constructive activities in social and cultural spheres and utilize medicos’ energies in the various nation-building activities.

(g) To promote progressive outlook among them along with love for the cultural heritage of the land.

(h) To develop harmony and homogeneity among the various components of the society by reviving a sense of tolerance and brotherhood.

(i) To seek the co-operation and goodwill of doctors, educationists, educational and health authorities in the work of the NMO.

(j) To promote better teacher-student relationship in medical colleges and institutes.

(k) To promote the academic environment in medical colleges and institutes*.

(l) To form a common platform on the basis of a common mode of work for all the members of the medical community, viz., students, doctors and educationists for the reorganisation of medical education in the comprehensive context of national reconstruction.

* and to establish such model institutions.(added in 2007)Aims and Objects of the NMO

Bharat Seva Nmo Agra Nmo Karnavati

 CHAPTER XII

A CHRISTMAS IN BURIAL GROUND:

ANDHRA CYCLONE RELIEF WORK

While the first circular for the founding members of the NMO was in the process of posting, the news of the devastating cyclone on 19th Nov. 1977 in coastal Andhra Pradesh was flashed in the newspapers of 22nd Nov. 1977, reporting over 6000 deaths of people apart from the colossal loss of property, cattle and agriculture. The entire nation was in panic.

A Nepali student prompted me to do something for relief work. I issued an appeal for collecting money. I also sent a wire to the Hyderabad unit to proceed towards the cyclone-hit areas. At Darbhanga, I started collecting smaller contributions from medicos. Veteran freedom fighter Ramnandan Mishra appreciating the move, contributed a small amount too as a token of his blessings to this work. The money was sent to The Times of India Cyclone Relief Fund, Rs. 240 and Rs. 130 (from girls) and Rs. 107 to the ABVP relief fund.

Fig. 13 _ For the Andhra Cyclone relief Fund the NMO, Patna presenting a cheque of Rs.1471/- on 21.12.1977 to the Governor of Bihar H.E. Jagannath Kaushal (L-R), Mahendra Singh, Chiranjiva Khandelwal, Ashwini Chaubey (ABVP), Durgadas Mishra and Baidya Nath Mishra.

I recall that the agent of the local SBI branch called me the second day and apologised that on the first day, the draft was levied an exchange fee. A token amount of Rs. 51 was also sent to the P.M.’s relief fund. Altogether 305 boys and 80 girls contributed.

Our Patna unit deposited Rs. 1471 to the Governor of Bihar. H.E. Jagannath Kaushal on 21.12.1977, which was announced in the news on the AIR, Patna also.

From the western coast-end, the Jamnagar unit sent Rs. 414.47 to the relief fund. Today I can say that a contribution of Rs. 2413.47 to the cyclone relief fund was too small but it was contributed by over one thousand people including the contribution from Ramnandan Mishra as well (who for long remembered this work and also recalled it in his message to our First Conference in 1980). It had come from Bihar and Gujarat, which are far away from Andhra.

Not only that it was the maiden work from a nascent organisation, in its second month; had no letterhead of its own; no fund, nothing which indicated an organisation. The morning shows the day; the medicos had shown their spirit that the NMO was going to be the prime mover of social service in the coming days which it has kept up so far, be it relief in Tripura’s inhuman Mandai massacre of 1981; Bohpal’s MIC Gas tragedy of 1984; earthquakes of Bihar in 1988; and Uttarkashi in 1990 and or devastating perennial flood*, the NMO’s response was instant, and spontaneous everywhere, truly a mini-Red Cross, in the service of those in suffering.

Sending the money to the cyclone relief fund was not the end. On the morning of 22nd December 1977, we were four in the shakha. Suddenly, a proposal came to render service personally in Andhra. One non-medico among us was a bit pessimistic but two medicos of second year, Ksh. Birendra (who hailed from Manipur) and Satyanarayan Lal happily agreed. And we planned to move the very next day — imagine no money, no medicines, and no reservations in the train.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Super-cyclone of Orissa 1999; earthquake of Bhuj in 2001 and Tsunami disaster of 2004.

But if there is a divine thought it is He who does, not you. We met the President of the IMA, Darbhanga, Dr. S.R.P. Sinha, who issued an appeal for physician’s samples. One cannot believe that some six or seven big sacks of medicines were collected by next 8 a.m. Four teachers also gave some money to us (total Rs. 60).

It is exhilarating to recall, with Dr. B.N. Das Gupta, it was my first encounter as a medico (though in 1972, I had gone to him in connection with the treatment of my sister’s son having hydrocephalus, who died of it. Dr. Das Gupta was very short-tempered and for a concessionary fee, on the suggestion of his ‘compounder’ (assistant), I had told him falsely that I was a medico at Ranchi, though I had appeared only for the PMT. Had he queried anything about the medical college of Ranchi?). I had gone to him with Ramanji, Secretary of the IMA, Darbhanga. When I asked for donation, he gave me Rs. 20 but cautioned Ramanji to take all accounts from me.

It was the cyclone relief work which brought Dr. Das Gupta in the folds of the NMO and it was with his help that we could establish it in Bihar*.

Dr. S. N. Sinha promptly issued the concession orders with a forwarding letter to the authorities for help. Dr. S.R.P. Sinha asked me to prepare a list of medicines and I recalled the days of my father when he had left the job of a Sethji. But Dr. Sinha was with us, working assiduously and went to see us off in his car. He had told us to have a camera (even today, I have not got one though I feel one should always carry it as I had missed not only many such memorable events but also interesting cases on the road, better than those printed in the text-books). We could catch the train, as it was late (though in Mithila, you did not need a time table, you could simply go to the station, some train might be there, which might be of any time of the day as per schedule). At Samastipur, we could get berths in the Mithila Express and we slept turning the pages of Prabhakar Machave’s 15 Languages of India, presented by Om Prakash who had come from Muzaffarpur to discuss the developments of the NMO.

* Including Jharkhand

We woke up in the morning crossing the harvesting paddy fields of Bangbhumi. Howrah, a crowd or station, I am still not able to differentiate, and that was my maiden visit. Railway reservation, though now easier with the computers, was a matter of money in those days, which we hardly had even for proper tickets. On producing the identity letter of relief workers, somebody suggested to us to go to the Strand Road office for the VIP quota. No doubt, the receptionist received us as VIPs with great honour as we were going on a relief work. But how could I be a VIP who while using a lift for the first time there, escaped from being trapped in the gates although I had solved numerous sums in Physics on it during my pre-medical days.

It is also thrilling to recall my first use of a telephone in my school-days in the house of a businessman at Forbesganj, when I disconnected the line ignorantly by pressing the buttons while the talk was still in progress and even before that in attending a trunk call, I could hardly understand the message that Bhaiya had told me for my father. Though I could handle TV, VCR, myself only in 1989, I found that my brother-in-law, little Saket was better, so I had given him an eponym ‘Voltage Master’. The electronics has changed the life but whether the I.Q. has also been raised? And, certainly raising standards of life have hardly any correlation with human values.

Since the wait was prolonged, we came back and caught the worst train, the Madras Janata Express and viewing the seacoast reached Vijayawada on 25th Dec. 1977.

Next morning, we went to Avanigaddha and Guntur on way to the interior villages where now stands Deendayalpuram. The villages were hardly traceable in those days. Families had been flushed out. I could meet a man who was the only survivor among the family of seven members. The house-owner of our camp had lost his parents. When some young men from Hyderabad asked Sridharji, a senior Sangh worker, to have our breakfast in the hotel itself as everything used to be brought from there, Sridharji’s remark, I still remember, “The owner, a lawyer who was also a big farmer used to have some 200 sacks of paddy each year. He has not only lost his parents but also the crop. If we ask some chatani and mix it in our breakfast purchased from the shop, he will have a feeling that his guests are having their meals in his home and he is not totally withered away.”

Such were the remarks of the cyclone relief workers, a life long lesson for me.

We were engaged more in making huts than distributing medicines since we had little knowledge of medicine at that time. Yet, we learnt many things from Dr. Subramanyam and Dr. M. H. Patil (of Hubli). We used to note the requirements and supply them the next day and somehow helped them in managing hundreds of cases.

The environment was yet smelled foul due to the dead bodies of cattle. Mostly the Sangh workers had already buried human corpses. We were told that even army people were unwilling to perform this service. It was a burial ground. I saw a damaged church having festoons of Christmas.

The devastation was such that iron poles of electric lines were twisted like a rope twined and intertwined. Very few traces of houses were left for miles together.

The cyclone that was unprecedented in previous 108 years was reported to be so furious that one person told me that he could be saved only by catching an iron-rod which after receding water-level was found to be nothing but the trishul on the top of the Shiva temple of Ganpateshwaram, a village few km away from his home where he was sleeping in his hut and the trace of which that I could see was only a cemented nad (manger).

We could work only up to 30th December 1977 as our college was to reopen and my examination was imminent. The IMA in its meeting felicitated us. We shared our memoirs. The AIR, Darbhanga interviewed me and I listened myself on the air, for the first time. My professor of Pathology, Dr. S. N. Varma had also listened to it and so he agreed to preside over the first public function of the NMO on 14.1.1978, where we had put a big board showing the path of the cyclone and our places of work. Our narrations were very much applauded. It was more of an adventure.

Later in 1984, when Swami Vivekananda, a medico, whose parents had named him so, approached me for helping him to go to Bhopal for the MIC tragedy relief work, I dissuaded him, as I was myself busy in my thesis work. His simple argument silenced me that if I could have gone to Andhra while a student why could he not?

I, then helped him to go and the team remained there, even on the day of shudhikaran (neutralizing the remaining poisonous gas) when half of Bhopal’s public, including many doctors had left the city; the NMO workers were there to help the victims in the Hamidia Hospital. Seeing them a correspondent of The Indian Express said, “Who says the country is dead...?”

Indeed, our Christmas vacation in the burial ground will inspire many ‘Vivekanandas’.

Fig. 14 _ Six members of the NMO from Darbhanga with the ABVP members during action at Bhopal in 1984 after MIC gas tragedy.

Fig. 15 _ The NMO workers in the Orissa super-cyclone, 1999.