A PATIENT IS A LIVING TEXT BOOK !

anonymous

21st September 2018

A PATIENT IS A LIVING TEXT BOOK ! - 4

DR A.V. BAVDEKAR

I met Baba Amte for the first time at a social gathering (mitra melava) which is an annual event at his noble institution Anandwan. He was then not keeping well; he was in great pain and was confined to a wheelchair following a minor fall. I examined Baba and came to the conclusion that he was suffering from a spinal ailment-spinal stenosis syndrome-and needed an operation.

He agreed to come to Bombay to get operated. The date was fixed then and there and accordingly he was admitted in my Nursing Home. He was a towering personality and was very famous and respected because of his social work and commitments. I was then just a junior surgeon, struggling hard to establish myself in Bombay. My Nursing Home was a small place, not fully equipped with modern gadgets and catering essentially to the middle and poor classes.

Understandably, when it became known that I was to operate Baba, tongues began to wag. Baba's friends and well-wishers told him he should consult senior surgeons and get operated in a hospital with better facilities. But calling me to his side. Baba said: "Doctor, when I repose faith in someone, that is final. I have come to you for treatment and operation. If you are not going to operate on me, I am going back to Anandwan." So all the necessary care and precautions were taken and operation was done successfully. At no time did Baba show any doubt about my capabilities. Even if complications had occurred, I am sure Baba would have been just as trusting. This conviction is what makes Baba Amte what he is today. It gave such a boost to my morale that has stood me all these years. Over the years I have become very close to Baba, his family and his institution. Years later, the same thing happened in case of Shri B.M. alias Rao-saheb Gogte, the famous industrialist from Belgaum. He also was to insist that I alone operate on him in my Nursing Home.

Compilation of professional reminiscences of specialists - edited by M.V.Kamath and Dr.Rekha Karmarkar.