Doctors

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As children whenever we were unwell or ill, doctors who were known for their healing touch, fairly senior, Dr Tajveez Singh and Dr RM Bali used to come home. It was simple, they would check the pulse, body temperature, briefly ask the symptoms to prescribe medicines. Hardly any tests were prescribed, yet we would begin to feel better. They became close family friends as they also listened attentively and were concerned about our well-being. They would ask us how we were doing at school, later at college and university and bless us to do well.

I had good doctors in Amritsar. Bauji knew the Principal of Medical College, Prof Philips. She looked after me during my pregnancy and delivered my son Manu with lot of care. I had developed acute breathlessness in the seventh and eighth month, Prof Harcharan Singh, the medical specialist helped me out.

In Punjabi University, Patiala, Dr Thapar, the university doctor was motherly and helped out each time we needed her. At AIIMS, we found the best of surgeons and physicians to deal with Devendra’s critical issues after a major accident.

Subsequently, we needed doctors to deal with health issues of the family and we were fortunate to find so many. Each one of them helped my family and me, not only when any one of us was unwell, but also gave us confidence as healers, listening to what

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bothered us. They have always been there, responding each time I called. They are always there for us!

Without their care and concern, I could not have managed my family’s or my own health concerns. Doctors became our guardian angels, our friends, our support by understanding what we needed to address, emotional pain, physical discomfort and much more. They never hesitated to accommodate us by adjusting their very hectic schedules, professional pressures and whenever they could not take the calls, they would send an SMS, confirming they would call back soon, and, they do. Each one of them treated me and my family like their family which made us confident to deal with challenges of health, profession and take up the tasks which required long hours, undivided attention and travel. They continue to give me hope to continue to contribute meaningfully!

Prof Dr SM Tuli

I had a difficult time getting an appointment with you. You are a senior consultant of Orthopedics at VIMHANS hospital. I was told that a slot was available after three months. I had joined back my work after six months of bed rest. I was finding it impossible to sit for more than an hour, I was fatigued with excruciating pain in the spine. When I personally spoke to you, you gave an appointment for the next day. I waited for two and a half hours outside your room, which was full of patients, sitting and standing. You noticed me and smiled looking at my heavy spinal belt. I did manage to sit after sometime. I observed that you were giving more time to those who were old, illiterate and helpless. You kept your conversation simple and let each patient leave with hope. You were quick to recognise and remember names, even of your very old patients.

In the last 18 years, I have spent hours in your OPDs only to learn from you, your passion, compassion, patience to deal with crowds of suffering humanity, in pain with worried and sad faces. You have never raised your voice at anyone. I have still not fully learnt this from you. Your message ‘never look down upon people while going up, you cannot stay up always, you will meet these people when you come down’ and ‘we should not be like a pond, where water is stagnant’. Your message that stagnation in our

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learning, thought process and skills will lead us nowhere. We will learn to over-project ourselves. We will forget to think of solutions, address challenges and will forget to serve humanity in whatever way we can! You feel sad with compromised values of doctors and the disappearing bed side etiquettes of doctors, prescribing medicines and treatment without even examining patients.

You are blessed with a calm of an unusual kind, a spark in your eyes when you share with me your papers, your keynote addresses and a visible sadness when you discuss your patients’ unending pain and suffering and your determination to do whatever you can as long as you can! You and your wife (whom I lovingly call Mom) have been like parents to Devendra and me.

I have silently drawn strength from you to keep going during frequent spinal fatigue. You and ‘Mom’ helped me during a trying period when Devendra was in Escorts Hospital for ten days with his fluctuating blood pressure. The attendant’s bed in the private room was low and soft, I could not bend to reach it. You suggested that Manu could stay there during the nights and I should stay with you. You assured Devendra, Manu and me that in case of any emergency, you would drive me to the hospital, even in the middle of the night. I could share with you so much, address my anxieties while ‘Mom’ looked after me so well, ironed my clothes every morning, made me have proper breakfast and dinner. Even today, I know I can walk into your house anytime without informing and if you are in, you will look after me.

You motivate me to eat something, you peel almonds for me, make me have mangoes which I had given up eating. Your message is ‘moderation is all that we need Kiran’. You know I love walnuts, you never forget to give me a packet of walnuts each time I come to see you. You also make a packet for Mahender, realising that he drives me safely. You have never given me a feeling that I should not have come unannounced. Thank you for treating me like your daughter and never refusing appointments for my friends, colleagues and family in spite of your hectic, overbooked schedule. You are 80 plus but you never let your patients feel how exhausted you get with your 10-11 hours of OPDs or long surgeries, and then coming home to take patients’ phone calls of anxiety, pain and fear. You keep giving hope!

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You have authored two books, five editions of Tuberculosis of the Spine, a lot of articles, have been the Editor of the Journal of Orthopedics. On your 75th birthday, your students who are now Professors and HoDs brought out a felicitation volume as a mark of their respect with a message on how you guided their lives. Your third book, Guidelines for Ageing with Health, Grace and Dignity is so meaningful.

Thank you for listening to me patiently and giving me the strength to carry on!

Prof Dr MP Sharma

When I met you for the first time, you were the HoD of Gastroenterology and a pioneer in this field at AIIMS. It was a humbling experience. You came across as a happy doctor with professional depth and patience to listen to your patients’ stories of pain and discomfort. Your bedside etiquettes, your clear and meaningful discussions with your team were a learning for me. While you would know how serious a patient was, you remained calm, to avoid passing on anxiety to the patients or their families. You do not believe in making patients a part of the treating doctor’s worry and anxiety. You have passed on this value to your teams, the value of working with dedication for every patient, even for those patients, who you feel are not going to make it. You always enter the private and general wards with a smile and leave the patients with hope.

All the serious discussions about patients are carried outside the rooms/wards with great respect for space, discussing slowly, keeping in view the rounds of your colleagues.

As a teacher, you always find time for your old students from AIIMS who have become HoDs or senior consultants. You have never taken anyone for granted. You feel proud of your students and are ready to provide support or advice to them for their patients, families and colleagues. You do this quietly, without letting anyone know how hard it must have been for you to take so many extra steps for so many.

You greet patients with a smile and let them leave by saying ‘look after yourself’ to sick patients and ‘don’t worry, we will look

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after you’ to serious patients. You avoid using ‘I’ as you practice a strong team spirit.

You also find time for your academic commitment. You never talk about your achievements. You shared with Devendra and me how nervous you became as a young doctor in Harvard Medical School when your Professor told you that he would have lunch with you because you used to have limited amount of money. Your anxiety disappeared when the Professor said ‘we will go Dutch’. This was when you were beginning your training as a doctor!

You provided all support during Devendra’s and Kunti Mummy’s hospitalisations with an unparalleled professionalism and sensitivity. You had respect for Kunti Mummy. You addressed her as ‘Mummy’ as you felt she was a mother to you as well. Devendra and Mummy were simultaneously admitted under your care in March 2010. It was tough for you and your team, but you looked after both very well. You were sensitive to Devendra’s falling Haemoglobin levels, blood transfusions, his anxiety and pain about Mummy’s illness. You comforted Devendra when he used to get upset about Mummy. You were touched that he used to forget that he himself was ill. You realised that it was an emotionally difficult period for him!

You took great care while informing Devendra about Mummy’s passing away in the ICU. You came in with your usual smile, found out how he was, and waited to let him finish his breakfast. You began talking to Devendra, ‘you know Mummy was in the ICU, it was difficult for her to make it, she has just passed away. I will come with you to the ICU’. Devendra refused to go, he started crying. You held his hands and left after letting him know, ‘you don’t worry, one of the doctors would accompany you to the ICU only when you are ready. I will take care of all formalities’.

You realised that Devendra was ill and shocked. When we went to the ICU, there were instructions for Kunti Mummy’s body to be released without any delay, ‘payment to be settled later’. You allowed Devendra to leave the hospital for cremation, but to return in the evening. He was discharged after a day to enable him to take Mummy’s ashes for immersion to Haridwar.

You ensured that I went to my office for an hour or so every day. You would say ‘I am here, don’t worry.’ You arranged a typist

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for me who would come to me around 10 pm, when Devendra would sleep and be there to work on the lobby computer of the private ward on second floor for two-three hours. You helped me meet my professional deadlines as well.

You reached within half an hour from Gurgaon on hearing about Devendra’s passing away. You spent some time with Anand, Ashok, Manu, Priya, and then rushed to Rockland Hospital for your duties. It was not easy for you. You were upset as you liked Devendra so much. You appreciated his values, his devotion to his mother, his caring sensitivity for his colleagues. You admired him for his sense of duty, professional commitment, and discipline, not forgetting to take your permissions for holding meetings with his Directors in the hospital.

I keep wondering how would I have looked after Devendra and Kunti Mummy, work and home without your sensitivity and concern. You made my routine and duties manageable by stretching your energy and professional commitment. I remain indebted to you for your generous support.

You always have kind words for Ashok and Queenie because you feel that they look after Mummy with a sense of commitment and for so many years. Mummy was your patient in 2002 at AIIMS. You find Anand to be grounded and respectful. You often tell me ‘Anand is so well respected. He is a very good human being’.

Dr Acharya

It has been a blessing to know you as one of the good Gastroenterologists of our country who took over as HoD of Gastroenterology from Dr MP Sharma. You treated Devendra, and, years later, my brother Ashok. Thank you for your support and respect for our family Dr Acharya.

Dr Ved Gupta

You have provided support and looked after our family with an unparalleled commitment and devotion for more than three decades. You have often taken risks, rushing Devendra in an ambulance from Parliament Medical Centre to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, getting and pushing the stretcher yourself to the

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Coronary Care Unit (CCU) to ensure that he was saved. You did not leave till he was better. You had left patients waiting, mostly Members of Parliament! When I had Herpez Zoster Ophthalmicus (of the eye), you held meetings with Dr Goel, the ophthalmologist who was looking after me to decide how safe would it be to put me on steroids. I was put on those orally to which both of you mutually agreed after hours of discussion. You respected Dr Goel’s decision of not using the steroid ointment or drops in the eye. In 1986, you handled my very severe attack of Vertigo till 8 o’clock in the night, in the medical center of Parliament Annexe, requesting Dr Hans to stay back. You ensured that a nurse stayed with me at Anand’s house, requested doctors in AIIMS to be ready in case my condition became more serious.

You stayed with me for two nights when I had surgery for removal of gall bladder in Apollo Hospital, helped me to walk in spite of excruciating pain after the surgery. Your concern was palpable when you discussed with the doctors about my huge discomfort due to my spinal issues! You were so happy that Manu and Priya had taken leave for my surgery.

You respond to all my calls to ensure that all is well with me. You are an excellent doctor. I remember you preparing long notes for doctors as you referred your patients from the Parliament Medical Centre to AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and GB Pant Hospital. You spoke to doctors to explain and religiously fixed up appointments for regular follow ups with specialists. You used to also write a detailed referral note for every patient. I do not find this kind of rigour in doctors anymore. This meant a lot of responsibility, a load on your time and energy. You have always been so focussed and concerned to ensure every patients’ wellbeing.

You could have gone in for private practice after superannuation, but you did not. You are still busy driving many of your old patients to hospitals yourself. These are the ones who have lost hope and need your medical advice along with emotional support!

You have always make me realise how blessed I am to have brothers like Anand and Ashok and their nice families. You never forget to convey that how dignified Anand is as a Parliamentarian even during his low period of 14 years when he did not have any

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position. You find him to be generous, helpful, knowledgeable, and an intellectual of high order. Your recent message ‘Anandji is superb. Controlled and dignified. There is always substance and clarity. He is actually a statesman. Congratulations for his brilliant political innings and many many more in the future!’ You have conveyed it several times to me that although he is younger to you, you respect him like an elder.

You keep letting me know that ‘Shri Anand Sharma is actually a statesman, not a politician. He is respected across party lines. In my years of service at Parliament Medical Centre, I appreciated his good manners, never opening the door and enter which most Members of Parliament would do. Anandji would always come after fixing up an appointment. He has been helpful, but never announces, I learn from so many about the help they received. He stands tall, never stoops low.’

You feel that Ashok and Queenie have taken good care of Mummy for more than two decades.

Dr Pramod Kumar Julka

You were our neighbour in Asian Games Village, your wife was my colleague at Central Institute of Educational Technology of NCERT. You were Professor of Oncology and Dean at AIIMS Cancer Facility. I had heard of your kindness from so many friends and colleagues. You liked Devendra as he was an effective and sensitive President of the Resident Welfare Association of Asian Games Village. I could never meet you, just spoke to you hundreds of times to request you to help so many patients suffering from cancer. You were always polite, never said no, gave an appointment and actually reached out to each one of them. You handled everything with so much of sensitivity. After superannuation, you are now Director of Max Hospital, Lajpat Nagar, Delhi. You continue to help cancer patients.

Your mother was a generous person. She was not able to walk, your wife and you would never forget to keep biscuits and other snacks in four or five big plastic jars on the dining table so that she would find it easy to give those to many children, maids, friends, neighbours and even strangers who asked for help while looking

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for an address. Water was invariably offered to everyone. She would request everyone to come in and sit for a while. Whenever I met her, she reminded me of my Mummy who was like her in Shimla. You appreciated that her simplicity and blessings helped you and your brother Bimal Julka, an IAS officer.

Each time I left your house, I took with me a message to respect the dignity of our old parents who gave us all strength to grow strong, but with age have lost their own.

Thank you for your support, for taking my requests seriously and providing endless and selfless support.

Dr Ashok Khurana

We have known you for decades as a happy and energetic Radiologist with positivity. Each meeting with you helped me learn about your goodness and depth. Your sensitivity to pain, emotional and physical, helps you to become a part of the healing process of so many. This makes me respect you. Devendra trusted you, for everything he would tell me to check with you. The support you provided during our critical and difficult periods for years continues to touch my heart. You never told me that you did not have time. Whenever you were busy with a patient on the table, doing an ultrasound, you would ask ‘can I call you back’ and you always did. You still do! You have been a constant source of strength to me. You helped me and Devendra handle Bauji’s health issues for a year, you gave him and Kunti Mummy respect and an assurance by saying ‘I will always be there’. You knew Bauji had led a healthy life, did not like to go to doctors. His blood pressure was very high, you suggested that he should be on Daflon, thrice a day to stop his nasal bleeding. It did help. You sent the Life Line Lab Technician home to get his blood samples, Dr Rahul Gupta and Dr Girish Raheja home to see Bauji. Both of them were good to Bauji. They are both very good doctors.

When Kunti Mummy was ‘terminally ill’, you followed up with the latest on her condition by talking to me and Dr Sharma. When Munna Didi was in hospitals after her heart attacks, first in Noida Medical Centre, in Apollo Hospital for a procedure, and in Escorts, you were constantly in touch with the doctors and with

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Devendra and me. When Sudhir was in Escorts, your support and concern was with us. When Papa had Motor Neuron Disease, you offered that you would look after him! He met you only once but during the few months he survived after meeting you, he frequently remembered your extremely good bedside manners, lamenting that this essentiality was fast becoming only a formality. You have been providing loving support with spontaneity to our children. While you appreciate Queenie so much for her goodness, she addresses you as the family’s ‘Life Line’. I have not forgotten how good and respectful you were to Devendra’s and my PhD Supervisor Prof Ravindra Kumar, when he came to see you with his daughter. Mummy keeps remembering you for your goodness and kindness ever since she first came to you in 1988 and again in 1992 for her ultrasound before her gall bladder surgery at AIIMS.

When Devendra called you up in the middle of the night to tell you that Dr Rakesh Khurana, your cousin and his wife had met with an accident. You reached the accident spot so fast where Devendra was waiting. He was Devendra’s colleague in IGNOU. You brought them to AIIMS, you are an alumnus of AIIMS, you had cordial professional relationships, all medical help was provided! You were there till six in the morning. You rushed for a shower to be in your clinic, Devendra rushed home to be in his office. You remained in touch with doctors and kept Devendra informed as well about their medical condition. They both gradually recovered with your support.

Your wife Sheenu and you took care of your grandmother and mother. They stayed in your house till they left for the better world. I did not come to know when your mother passed away, I need to ask for forgiveness that I came to you after a month or so! Thank you for relieving me of guilt by understanding that I was out of Delhi and missed seeing the announcement! I regret it Ashok.

I respect you for the tough struggle you went through. You were in the first or second year of your MBBS at AIIMS when you lost your father, who was a Brigadier in the Army. Your sister was studying in JNU and younger brother was also studying! You had to vacate the Army accommodation, all of you learnt to survive with minimum furniture in a house which you never thought you could live in. You did find time with the greatest of difficulty to interview

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eminent people at All India Radio station, Delhi. You shared with me that the twenty five rupees which you got every week for each interview you conducted, was a great help to you. You also found time to drop your mother to a bus stop at Punjabi Bagh to find a bus to Rohtak and picked her up on her return. You did this for years, travelling from one bus to another, adjusting with the heavy load of medical studies. You have not become bitter. You and Sheenu continue to provide support with spontaneity. Your sons Kabir and Arjun have also done well. It is a blessing to know you Ashok and be close to you!

Devendra proudly shared with me an incident to convey that although you have been in private practice you are upright. One of his officers had gone to you for an ultrasound, the moment you discovered that one of his kidneys had been removed, you called up your front office to instruct that half of the charged amount be returned to him! All the poor patients we sent to you, so many, you never charged. You still do it for our family and friends and the poor patients I send to you. You find time to serve the suffering humanity.

Devendra and I often shared how you balance, doing ultrasounds by creating comfort for every patient, guiding every patient, writing papers, books chairing sessions nationally and internationally at conferences and helping relatives and friends without losing your patience and smile!

You believe that Manu has good values, he was always running around to provide support to his paternal family and during his father’s hospitalisations at AIIMS. Manu and Priya together provided a lot of support during his later hospitalisation at Rockland Hospital, Delhi. You have lot of affection for him, Priya and Vaidehi.

You shared with me, with a sense of satisfaction, that Gayatri has been donating large amount of money to support treatment of the poor. You call her ‘an angel’. You happily added ‘it is their upbringing’, because you know that Gauri also donates a big amount on her birthday every year, to support the treatment of children with leukemia and protection of stray animals. You have often appreciated Ashok and Queenies’ beautiful upbringing of their daughters with values of kindness.

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You often share with me that Anand has got so much of intellect, integrity, clarity and understanding of national and international issues. He is capable of contributing to the system much more. He actually deserves a lot more. He is so well respected in society, even by those who have never met him. Your New Year message has touched my heart ‘looking back at the year gone by, and, relishing my finer moments makes me sentimental and grateful. Thank you for your regard, your warmth, your generous gifting and your wishes. Deeply touched Warmest wishes’.

Dr Randeep Guleria

You are the Director of AIIMS. My brother Anand keeps talking about your depth of knowledge. We feel proud that you stay calm, composed, balanced and never give a feeling that Covid-19 is something to be scared of, of course, physical distancing is important and a few precautions need to be taken like wearing a mask and frequent hand washing. The changing season makes so many of us have fever, cough or cold but everyone is not going to get Corona. You uphold the spirit of AIIMS’s academic acumen and continuous research. You never give false hope that vaccine for Covid-19 will become available for treatment very soon. You inform about protocols of trials and robust data before a vaccine can be given to the patients. We actually listen to you frequently to educate ourselves. It is a treat to talk to you. You were kind to ask me to visit your home. I am looking forward to visiting you once things settle down and the lockdown is lifted.

You pass on a message of essential patient care. You are blessed to have an understanding wife who is herself a renowned Gynaecologist at Safdarjung Hospital. Both of you stay grounded.

Dr Vineet Ahuja

You are a professor of Gastroenterology at AIIMS. You have been looking after the health issues of our family for years, without causing a panic. You have respected each one of us. You keep remembering Manu as a son who was so concerned about his father during his hospitalisation at AIIMS and behaved with a great sense of duty and responsibility even though, he had joined

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his first job in CNN-IBN. You do talk about his sense of duty and maturity which you feel is a rare quality in the present times. Each time I visit you, you make sure that I am escorted to your office and back. I will never forget your warm and long hug when I came to meet you after Devendra’s passing away. You ensure that your OPDs, meetings and classes are adjusted so that you can spend time with me. I feel good when you make cups of green tea and serve in beautiful tea cups. Whenever a call comes, you direct a colleague to handle a patient and tell me ‘nothing to worry Ma’am, the patient is being taken care of’. Professionally you are very competent and as a human being you are compassionate and caring.

It is satisfying to find young doctors of your age in AIIMS where hundreds of patients are attended to with the doctors missing their lunch and tea in the congested OPDs/wards, almost running to save critical patients, never losing time to wait for the lift, no matter which floor they need to go. I observe how doctors manage so much with inadequate facilities for such a large number of patients. Over the years I realised that it was and still is the commitment of the doctors to their profession with a passion. I love your paintings in your office in AIIMS. You are soft spoken and never brag about the depth of your knowledge. You could be an example of a very sensitive professional for many of us!

Each meeting with you makes me feel good, learn something and look forward to the next. Vineet, you stay in Gurgaon in the house of your parents. I felt good when you said, ‘Ma’am, my parents are young.’

You get uncomfortable the moment I begin to appreciate you by saying, ‘it is not an effort for us in AIIMS. All of us, doctors and staff are committed and passionate about our profession. We feel satisfied when our patients feel better, and, we contribute to research. We have never felt suffocated in our congested OPDs with patients pushing in. We have, over the years, learnt to stay focussed during trauma and pain of our patients, addressing their anxieties and giving treatment for cure and relief. We never feel the need to leave AIIMS for more money and flashy life!’

Your concern and support for days during my illness and excruciating abdominal pain has touched me. Your rushing to be there with me for endoscopy and ultrasound, holding my hand, and

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rushing with my bags of investigations to see me off. Your effort of fixing up appointments and ensuring your presence is something I admire. This value would have disappeared if doctors like you did not push hard to keep it alive! You rushed from Gurgaon for me. You were on vacation when I was to have a procedure EUS (Endoscopy with Ultrasound). This was a little tedious for me as anaesthesia had to be given. When the anaesthesia was to be given, you handed over my hand to Prof Pradeep Garg who was to do the procedure. Mahender told me that you came in three times during the procedure and ensured that I be taken to the ward till I fully recovered and later to your office to have biscuit and tea and to be carefully taken to the car later.

It was a learning for me to observe you in a meeting with your colleagues from another department. Your colleague was very loud and over assertive but you firmly stood your ground and explained why it was medically not sound to agree. You did not raise your voice even once respecting the fact that she had come to your office with her colleagues for this meeting!

You proudly shared with me that Gayatri keeps donating large sums to AIIMS for the treatment of poor patients, especially children and cancer patients. Vineet you made me feel so good when you shared with me that you respected both Anand and Ashok. You shared, that a former Finance Minister who was your patient, had shared with you, ‘Anand Sharma is one of the most performing and honest person.’ During my recent checkup, you didn’t hurry up when a relative of a very senior politician came in. You requested her to wait. You came out to see me off. I was so touched.

Dr Jitendra Maheshwari

You were in the Department of Orthopedics at AIIMS. You ensured during Devendra’s long hospitalisations that you took Manu and me to the cafeteria when we used to come to AIIMS from Patiala for Devendra’s surgeries. You made sure that there was milk for Manu, sandwiches for both of us and a cup of tea for me. Jitendra, you changed after the loss of your three-year-old son and your wife in an accident. We still remain in touch.

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You passed on a great message when you said, ‘I cannot be emotional. I have a small daughter, my parents and family to take care of. My emotional weakness will negatively impact my surgeries. I will lose my patients’ faith in me. I will have to be strong’. Jitendra, I am happy that you manage with tough emotional difficulties and also managed to give strength to your daughter to become a dentist. You turned her marriage to a celebration of a special kind at Gymkhana Club. You are now the Director of Orthopedics at Max Hospital, Saket, Delhi. I do try to remain in touch with you! It is a joy to talk to Parul who is a practicing dentist in South Delhi.

Brigadier Sandeep Thareja

You were on training in AIIMS during Devendra’s hospitalization in 2004-05. You went to Research & Referral and Army Base Hospital at Delhi Cantt. You provide support even after years of our meeting. Sandeep, you pass on a message of professionalism with commitment. Your father stays with you. We share a warn bond of respect.

Dr Kaushal Madan

You used to quietly provide support during Devendra’s hospitalization in AIIMS in 2004-05. You are now Director Gastroenterology at Max Hospital Saket and Gurgaon, you spend three days at Saket and two days in Gurgaon. I felt blessed when you responded, years after our last meeting, to my requests to help my neighbours and colleagues.

Dr Mukul Varma

My long association with you makes me respect you for your patience with which you listen to your patients to address their anxiety and give them an assurance that they will manage to get by, get better and they should never give up!

You were Papa’s neurologist when I met you first at Apollo Hospital, Delhi. You were frank, polite and soft spoken while conveying to us that no treatment was available for Motor Neuron

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Disease without severe side effects. The available medication would damage Papa’s kidneys and liver. You were surprised when we, Anand, Ashok, Queenie, Devendra and me came back to you, to let you know that we would not go in for that kind of treatment. We would, however, keep bringing him to the hospital in case of any emergency, only to make him feel comfortable. Anand conveyed the decision to you with the rest of us remaining quiet and calm to support him. Papa passed away months later in 1999.

When I came to you after Devendra’s passing away in 2010 with violent headaches, you were caring, supportive and concerned. You shared with me that you were touched when in 1998, you received a touching ‘thank you note’ from Anand within three days of meeting you. He realised that the bill was only for investigations and you had not charged your consultation fee! You feel that there are very few who think of thanking for somebody’s time and right medical advice!

You were upset that I had paid my consultation fee, you wanted it to be given back to me at that very moment. I promised you that I will not pay the fee next time. There was however, an incident when I paid. The moment you saw the slip, you were terribly upset, looking into my eyes and wanting it to be reimbursed. On my letting you know that your PA wanted me to, you were more upset. You reminded me that I did not keep my promise, you did something totally unexpected. You opened my bag, took out the amount of the consultation fee from your wallet, put it in my bag and closed it. I have been sharing it with so many to let them know that in private hospitals, one rarely come across doctors who will be so detached with money matters, will spend so much of time to respect an old relationship. I have seen you scores of times in the past few years, your support, warmth and respect touch me deeply. Each time I enter, you come up to the door, each time I leave, you come up to the door, the hug is always there and you never forget to tell me that I must spend more time, come as a last patient, ‘I need at least an hour to talk with you. I can also relax’.

You came to see me on both the days during my surgery for removing Gall Bladder at Apollo Hospital. I understand how difficult it must have been for you to leave your busy OPD. Thank you for always responding to my phone calls, your concern even at

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a time when you were having a procedure for your ‘very fast pulse rate’. Later, Dr Sardana told me that you asked him ‘is she okay’? You could not pick up your mobile then! I am eternally grateful to you Mukul.

I respect you for sensitizing your team for not charging visiting fee from poor patients as you respect your father’s principles. Both your parents were working in medical colleges. Your father gave up the specialisation of his choice, Master of Surgery (Ms)when he was about to complete it. This has stayed with you. Your father did it to let his HoD know that it was unfair to do a surgery on a patient who was very poor and was not going to survive. He would have to sell the tiny piece of land, his only possession. He was not going to live in spite of the surgery and his wife and very small children would have nothing to survive on. You feel proud that your father had the courage to give up a specialisation which he loved, when he had almost completed, acquired finer skills of surgery by assisting in HoD’s private surgeries. As a resident doctor in surgery, he had the courage to change his field of specialisation!! He quietly sacrificed his choice and passion for surgery, even the time and energy spent for a cause that he believed in, never exploiting the poor patients. He started afresh in another field, Anatomy, worked hard and eventually became Principal of Kanpur Medical College. Your mother was a professor of Physiology in Kanpur Medical College. Your father passed away, your mother and you stay in the same house, but on different floors, respecting each other’s privacy and space. You are proud that she is very independent. I feel good that I know a well respected Neurologist who has not forgotten the values of his father in the name of professionalism, who has stayed away from becoming materialistic and reaches out to patients with sensitivity. I do learn a lot from you Mukul. I love the way you follow your passion for birds, photography, scuba diving and travel!

While waiting for my appointment with you I had a long conversation with an old couple from a village in Madhya Pradesh. I learnt that the husband had a follow-up check up after his heart surgery at Escorts Hospital, a day before, and, he had brought his wife to you to be examined for spinal pain. He shared with me that he had retired from a Class III government job from a Tehsil and

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was getting a monthly pension of Rs. 20,000. He also said that he was paying for medical expenditure from his own pocket as there is no provision for medical reimbursement. I was feeling bad, but he immediately added, ‘it is not difficult, I stay in my own house in the village, my two married sons stay with me. They are working as guards, we all eat together, the third son is studying. The daughter is married. We manage everything because we lead a simple life. When I asked him as to where they stay in Delhi, he showed me a pamphlet of an organisation called Jeevan Ashraya in Noida which charges patients per bed very reasonably, gives three free meals, provides transport for patients to reach different hospitals for their appointments and bring them back. The charge is nominal. Every patient and attendant is taken care of. I was happy meeting this couple as I found them to be satisfied with what they had and were grateful for the affordable and clean place to stay.

I kept wondering about the management of this institution which thinks of so many under privileged patients and their accompanying attendants/family members. I always keep talking to people sitting next to me in hospitals, shops and while travelling, to enrich my life from the experiences of those whom I meet. I have a similar feeling each time I cross AIIMS when I observe three four vans bring morning tea, breakfast, lunch and dinner for large crowds of patients and their attendants/family members. This has been going on for a number of years. Both of these humane efforts are managed beautifully, organised well because they are carried out from the heart and soul! This strengthens my belief that peace and happiness come to those who think about others and are not self-centered.

Dr Rajnish Sardana

I have known you as a good cardiologist since the year 2000, when my brother-in-law Sudhir had his first heart attack. You were in Escorts Hospital then. You used to come with Dr Kler to provide updates on Sudhir.

Devendra and I used to interact with you to discuss Sudhir’s medical condition. Unfortunately, he passed away after two years. Munna Didi began to have problem with her heart, she survived

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the first attack but not the second, she was on life support system in Escorts for five days. Although you were not involved in her treatment directly, you were constantly providing support to us, talking to doctors and pushing them to do what needed to be done. We developed a lasting relationship with you and your family. You always make me feel welcomed in your Out Patient Department. On the first Diwali after Devendra’s passing away, you specially called up to say that I must come to be with you and your family. It was so thoughtful. You appreciated it when I informed you that Manu and Priya wanted me to be with them.

I am satisfied that I am close to a trusted cardiologist. Most patients, who come to you for a second opinion after having been diagnosed with a heart condition, get shocked and disbelieve when you tell 95 per cent of them, that they do not have a heart problem. You guide those carefully, who you feel, have a problem. Those who visit you for the first time are nervous. You address their anxiety and tell many that they do not have to worry as everything would be manageable! You do not easily prescribe procedures and medication unless actually required. You have been raising issues and have been able to resist greed to save patients from implants which they do not require. You are professionally good and strongly believe in your principles. You are not greedy. Your consultations at your home clinic are never for money. You have never allowed me to pay at Apollo Hospital, at Jaypee Hospital and now at Manipal Hospital.

Each time I visited you in Apollo Hospital, where you worked for years, you would share your lunch with me, discuss my medicines, see me off. You have done so at Jaypee Hospital and do it now at Manipal Hospital. When I got my stress test done, you stood behind me and saved me from falling when I became wobbly. For every investigation, you have been personally present. You got my appointment fixed with Dr Handa, Director ENT Medanta Hospital with the help of Dr Dubey, your cardiologist friend at Medanta Hospital. You kept in touch with me till I got to see Dr Handa, when you had shifted for a year to Jaypee Hospital in Noida. I was very unwell. I wanted to come to you. You dissuaded by saying that I could come home knowing that the distance was too much for me. I did make it to Jaypee. You

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kept guiding me with your continuous calls to ensure that I did not get lost. When I reached I was overwhelmed to find you near the elevator to take me in. You got some investigations done to rule out a heart condition after a careful examination. You offered me tea when I reached, you were there for the simple investigations to ensure that I got support and I remained relaxed. Your presence, your genuine concern gives me so much of comfort Rajnish. You saw me off, pressed a barbed wire with your feet so that I did not hurt myself while getting into the car. You had your own heavy bag to carry to your car! Thank you for your love and respect!

You stand tall among those who have compromised on professional ethics. It is so good to remain in touch with you and everyone in the family. I am always welcomed even when I reach unannounced. Your parents keep telling that I must visit more often. Your wife Samita, who too is a medical doctor, is very warm and good to me and so are your children, Pragya and Nayasha. You have been staying with your parents in their house! You keep sharing with me how your parents struggled to keep a large family together and are happy that they are respected by all the brothers and their families.

Dr Randip Wadhawan

I know you as Devendra’s surgeon. Prof MP Sharma’s faith in your skills made us respect you. Within days of the surgery you became our young doctor friend and by the time we left the hospital you began to respect Devendra for his capacity to bear pain and his co-operation for the treatment, his knowledge and pleasant mannerism.

When Devendra came to see you in Modi Hospital, he told you that with your excellent professional skills you needed to move ahead in life. He believed that you needed to lead a team and stay at one place. He felt it was not good to go from one hospital to another as it involved a lot of travel and anxiety. You had received an offer from Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj to join as HoD, Surgery Department. Devendra motivated you to join and stay there. You respected Devendra’s advice. During my several meetings with you at Fortis Hospital, I liked the way you treat your patients and their

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relatives with sensitivity. My friend Sandhya’s husband, Pankaj was your patient for more than a year, in and out of ICU. I was concerned about the expenses, although his sister who was a doctor in the US called you up almost every day and helped Sandhya to pay large amount, you shared my concern for the bills which were huge as Sandhya was also managing payments.

You rush from meetings, operating theatre to meet me and never let me feel how busy you are with critical and emergency surgeries. I love when you say ‘it is a routine Ma’am. We will finish tea, have nuts and then only will I leave. Keep coming Ma’am, we need to catch up’! Your mastery of high order skills help your patients. You stand out as a surgeon. You are sensitive to patient’s discomfort, needs and family’s anxiety! You feel good that you live with your parents and all of you share a beautiful relationship. Your wife is a Professor in Maulana Azad Medical College, one of your sons is in Maulana Azad college, the second one is about to choose a career after he finishes school. You confess that you do well because of your family, which understands your pressures! You excel in your surgeries, you have time for your patients and their families. You do not rush to make money. I respect your faith in the ethics of your profession, as Devendra and I too believed in this value. Your concern about the hurry and anxiety that the present generation goes through in their first medical training, MBBS is so genuine! You rightly observed that students cannot give their 100 per cent as they are all the time worried about their coaching classes which will help them get a seat for a specialisation, MD or MS! You lament that students in medicine have lost the joy of learning!

You shared with me your own experience of MBBS and MS at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Studies, Rohtak where your teachers assured you ‘do your best in the first training, you will get a seat for the second’ and when you were doing your MS and senior residency, your teachers assurance and concern for all students got each one of you jobs. Your way of expressing gratitude for your teachers is so beautiful! You find time to teach, deliver lectures and attend conferences. Your online CV is so meticulously prepared. It reflects the patience you have for everything you do! Devendra liked you. I love to meet you whenever I can.

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Dr Rajiv Mirchia

You are a renowned Eye specialist in private practice at Chandigarh and Panchkula. I met you in 2010 when I was there to attend a meeting of General Council of Haryana Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which was chaired by the State Chief Minister. I started to have a severe pain in my left eye, two hours before the meeting. It became very severe when the meeting was about to begin. The State Project Director, Mandip Singh Brar fixed my appointment with you for six in the evening. The meeting finished late, but, when we reached your clinic, I observed that you had created a system where no patient felt stuck or tired, with every patient moving from one room to another to reach you.

What touched me was your low consultation fee, affordable for so many, your healing touch and your respect for elderly patients and loving care for all your patients. I have remained in touch with you for the last ten years. You respond to all my calls to guide me whenever I get worried about my eye. I love to see you whenever I come to Chandigarh to learn from your professional richness of values and your desire to reach as many patients as possible with your updated knowledge and skills. I respect your humility Dr Mirchia.

Dr Naveen Sakhuja

You provide support for frequent pain in my left eye, swellings, violent headaches involving mostly the left, sometimes both. You are meticulous, good and reassuring, never create a panic, are caring and compassionate. Your clinic is aesthetically beautiful. You are grounded. You are blessed with special talents, your photography is unparalleled. So many photographs are put up in the entire clinic. The little collection of beautiful butterflies are kept very nicely on a small panel on your table, your daughter’s photograph is so beautiful. You have made her look so happy and special. I love the lawn that is outside the waiting room, lot of flowers, birds coming to get feed from the lovely ‘bird feeders’. The little Buddha sits peacefully. Your photograph of ‘Vision and Values’ needs to be mentioned. It speaks of all that you believe in!

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Dr Harsh Mahajan

I met you first in 2001 when I came to have an MRI done of the Lower Spine. I had never got an MRI done before and never ever thought that its sound could be so deafening and unnerving. I had been having Vertigo for years. I managed to have the MRI with the greatest of difficulty. I spoke to you about it, after it was over, to explain my discomfort. You promptly assured that this would be taken care of in future, by the doctor, by announcing each time different loud sounds were to come due to magnetic resonance. I never experienced any discomfort at your centre. I ran into difficulty after losing my consciousness in the car for a few seconds and was disoriented for quite some time on 16 July 2016. I knew I needed an MRI of the Brain and the Carotids urgently. Dr Mukul Varma wanted to see it the same evening, as investigations carried out by my Cardiologist Dr Rajnish Sardana had indicated minimal thickening of the left and right Carotids. It was a long wait. You were spontaneous, assuring me that the front desk will do the formalities for the MRI on a priority and, that I must reach Mahajan Imagining Centre, Defence Colony. Dr Mukul Varma discovered minimal thickening of left and right Carotids. He and Dr Sardana decided to put me on a blood thinner and added Rousovas as well, to take care of the problem.

You have always responded to all my urgencies with concern and spontaneity. You also informed me that I need not worry as you were soon to open a Centre in Gurgaon. I had beautiful experiences there. I love the beautiful lounges and the green tea.

Thank you Dr Harsh for your support!

Dr Umesh Gupta

I met you in Rockland Hospital in 2008 as Devendra’s doctor. You came across as a sensitive doctor. I was overwhelmed when you touched Devendra’s feet during your visits and would spend time with us talking about treatment with medical ethics and we loved your values, which many older doctors are conveniently giving up.

I met you after nine years in June 2017. I came to your house to discuss my ultrasound and MRI, which showed a kidney stone

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and a cyst. Your warmth and respect moved me. It was lovely to discover that you and your wife Richa encourage creativity in your two beautiful children Pranav and Nandini. The card made by Nandini has touched my heart. A six year old has expressed gratitude to her Mom on Mother’s Day. You did not keep it casually. It is stuck on your fridge to let Nandini know how much you appreciate her feeling and effort. You are proud of their paintings. These have been framed to put them up in your dining space. It was nostalgic for me as Devendra and I got our son’s paintings framed to put them up in our house. He participated in Shankar’s painting competition as a child and got the first prize. He was good in sketching too! He had received three Diplomas for his paintings and good discipline in Czechoslovakia where he participated in an International Camp in 1986, as a child below 10 years. You are proud that Pranav is getting good at playing guitar. I am happy to know a doctor couple who has time for their children, taking care of not rushing in a race to make sure that their children’s creativity is respected.

In you I discovered peace, the need to be close to the place where you grow up, your trips with your group of friends to travel to Leh and other beautiful places. You emphasised the fact that the other three families who join you, none of them is a doctor. Both of you are working in private hospitals as doctors, Richa as a Radiologist and you as Nephrologist.

You shared with me that your father does not want to leave Jamshedpur, the place where he has worked for years as he has his friends there. You are concerned about your mother’s loneliness. You were, however, a little consoled as your brother’s posting in Jamshedpur will help your Mom to share her feelings and have the comfort of having one of the two sons around. You send across a strong message for the need to respect and understand those who are getting old, give space to children to be creative and happy and find time for family outings for creating strong bonds. You also demonstrate the need to have patience for your patients!

You touched my soul when you came down to see me off, touching my feet in spite of your back issues, your spine fractured in an accident, its surgery and the everyday need to adjust.

I came away reassured that I need not worry as long as you

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are there responding to all my calls, helping a family friend by examining him at his house. I never expected you to do so much!

Dr Harsh Dua

I know you as Devendra’s consultant doctor in Escorts Hospital where he was admitted for fluctuating blood pressure. You were totally professional. We visited your clinic at South Extension, on the ground floor of your house. When we were leaving after the consultation, Devendra was about to pay your consultation fee, you held his hand to say ‘you are not a patient, you are a friend’. Devendra and I were touched.

You remain very busy, the best part is that you respond to my requests all the time. When Devendra and I were travelling to Gangtok, Darjeeling and Kalimpong for a holiday – with Devendra’s falling platelets – you assured us ‘you go ahead, relax, I can have platelets arranged in any city or town of our country’. You guided me through Kunti Mummy’s terminal illness as you are a Haemotologist and an Oncologist (cancer specialist). I came to see you when you lost your mother, you had lost your father long time back. I was touched when you shared with me that both, your wife and you, left your jobs of doctors in London because you were the only child of your parents. You did not want your parents to feel insecure and live with a feeling that they were by themselves as their son was in a foreign land. You stayed with your parents, in their house, a huge one, built long time back. You never expected them to modernise it. You said it was possible because your wife Madhu, also a medical doctor, supported you and your parents – and that your children were always taken care of. I will never forget what you shared as I was leaving ‘how can our parents die as long as their children are alive. Children can never forget their parents’.

You don’t call me, but when I do, you respond warmly and help me whenever I need your advice, taking care of family, friends, colleagues who get admitted in Apollo Hospital. You came to see me when I was admitted for my Gall Bladder surgery! You never forget to call back when you see my missed call. You never fail to recognise my voice. Thank you for your caring support!

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Dr Rajiv Khosla

Dr Rajiv Khosla, you are a renowned Gastroenterologist who has never taken my calls casually. There is always a warm response, even recently when you were arranging a help for your seriously ill father (also a renowned physician). I am touched.

Dr Vaibhav Gupta

I have known you as a young team member of Dr MP Sharma at Rockland Hospital. I wish to let you know that I felt confident and reassured when you handled critical patients when Dr Sharma was out of the country. You did your duty with a high sense of responsibility and coordination which helped patients to get better till Dr Sharma returned.

You treated Prof Choudhry with a lot of respect for his knowledge, his intellect and he also respected and trusted the young doctors. I was moved when you rushed with Dr Anurag Sharma and Dr Pankaj Sahu to pay your last respect to Prof Choudhry. I am grateful to you for treating him so respectfully.

You respond to my calls whenever I have needed your help. You provided a constant support during critical moments when our family friend Mr Uday Abhyankar was in Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon where you are now working as a Senior Consultant. You kept informing me about Prof PB Sharma and Dr Ranjeet Brajpuria when they were admitted in Medanta in 2018 and 2019. I feel proud of your commitment to your profession with responsibility. I see hope in you, a doctor who would save patients from the anxiety of unnecessary tests and investigations, and, who still get better!

I also admire you and your wife Pooja, a doctor at Safdarjang Hospital, for your passion for travel and beautiful things. Pooja and you provided support to Mahender’s brother- in-law in the Trauma Centre. He could not make it as he had alarming parameters due to his head injury and excessive bleeding. Your calls kept me updated till the very end in Kavarati, the capital Island of Lakshadweep, where I was on tour, were a great help to keep Mahender informed!

My recent visit to Medanta for an emergency ent consultation made me realise your hectic schedule as a Senior Consultant in a

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large private set up. I was touched when you made two calls to me while I was there, and, once I was finished, you escorted me to your room in the oPd. You did not forget to touch my feet. It was a good feeling to spend half an hour with you, you did not make me feel that you were pushed for time!

Thank you Vaibhav and Pooja for the respect you have for me and responding to my requests each time I need your help.

Dr Anurag Sharma

You were in Dr MP Sharma’s team at Rockland Hospital. You used to be on night duty during my husband’s hospitalisation for a surgery in 2008. You handled it with sensitivity, consulting the surgeon, Dr Wadhawan, even at midnight. You had high regard for Prof Choudhry, his scholarship and goodness. You were doing a course in Geriatrics from ignou. You were impressed how quietly he sorted out your problem that was coming in way of your completion of this course. When Dr Pankaj Sahu and you went to see him in the University, he had ensured that your certificate was ready as you had cleared it. Dr Sahu had not been able to clear it. He first spoke to Dr Sahu ‘it is just a matter of another semester. Your duties at the hospital are very difficult, the course is not difficult for you. You will clear it’. He kept discussing many other issues while you both had tea with him and then handed over your certificate to you with a warm handshake without uttering a word. He was sensitive to Dr Sahu’s emotions.

You did a lot of running around for Kunti Mummy during her two hospitalisations in Rockland Hospital for her terminal illness. You had to rush to us, hesitatingly, to update us on her condition realising that Prof Choudhry was also very ill himself. You still keep on remembering vividly how bold he was and how he respected the medical ethics of taking her to the ICU. It was very tough for him, he had convinced himself that he could not let her gasp for breath when the next option was available. I supported him, knowing in my heart that while groaning with excruciating pain, Kunti Mummy always said that she wanted to live and that she should be saved.

You remained in touch with me and provided support to me

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with my check up with Cardiologist Dr Balbir Singh at Medanta Hospital, where you were a consultant. Your wife and you were a great support when I shifted to Gurgaon in South City II. You came home to assure me ‘Ma’am, please call me up any time in an emergency. I will come running’. You were upset when I did not, and, you learnt when you came to see me that I had hurt my knees during morning walk. I fell down as my foot got entangled in the water pipe in the park which had been left carelessly after use by the gardener!

You have shifted to Dubai. I wish that you remain as sensitive as you have been. I feel blessed to know very young doctors like you who have not given up beautiful values of care with concern.

Dr Pankaj Sahu

You were a team member of Dr MP Sharma at Rockland Hospital, Delhi. You were respectful to my husband Prof Choudhry and me during his hospitalisations in 2009–10. Years after when I contacted you to help in the treatment of my critically ill, young neighbour Amit, you provided all support, answered all the calls in two days with your hectic schedules at Medanta Hospital, where you are a consultant. You helped Dr Ranjeet Brajpuria for days, sometimes alone and many a times with Dr Vaibhav Gupta. Thank you for your spontaneity to respond, help and also for your concern for my health.

Dr Gerd Mueller

I was uncomfortable and hesitant to see you when Queenie fixed my appointment with you. I did not want to leave my coping mechanism, which I had developed over the years.

I did come to AktivOrtho to see you, only to realise that you are a grounded, practical and a mature doctor who has a lot of experience in Orthopedics, Orthopedic Rehabilitation, Sports Medicine and Medical Fitness. You pursue this as your passion. You encourage patients to take informed decisions when they need surgery, in spite of all the available graded exercises and treatment programmes. You assure them that they can again join AktivOrtho (now Aktiv Health) to get mobile and maintain fitness.

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I was very frequently getting cramps, excruciating pain in the spine, stiffness, high level water retention and vertigo. I had learnt to deal with all these by developing a coping mechanism at mental and physical levels, compromising with faulty posture, which would somehow let me read, write, sit for long hours painfully in office and frequently take short and very long flights for official tours.

You helped me let go my fears and convinced me that an attitude of positive thinking, which I have was good. It is good to count one’s blessings but this was not enough. I needed to understand that it is not right to think that ‘even with so much of pain, I am able to do all my tasks, tours, long sittings in office’, at a time when so much is available to make one feel better. You said that because of my fear, mental acceptance and capacity to tolerate pain, I had forgotten to use my abdominal muscles. I was overusing my back muscles, which was not going to help me as eventually, this would incapacitate my functioning. I began to become confident, managed to stand without fear as you and the physiotherapist encouraged me by repeating ‘all the muscles which need to work to help you remain stable will gradually begin to work’. I became aware of my abdominal muscles. I also learnt to bend forward sitting on a chair to use the abdominal muscles.

You were sensitive to the sudden loss of my husband and many related issues which used to frequently upset me. You always found time for me. There have been several such occasions when your talking to me with reassurance, concern and ways of finding solutions to my problems relieved me of immense emotional and physical pressures. You found Dr Maria Allegier, an extremely good and sensitive psychologist for me. She helped me address issues which were bothering me. She used to say about you ‘he is a doctor and a good doctor. He is not only good professionally but in ethics as well’. Both of you are fond of books and literature and found time to discuss books even in your brief meetings. This decent behaviour of the two of you reminds me of Prof SM Tuli and Prof MP Sharma who appreciate all their colleagues, their strengths, never speak ill of anyone. It is a great value, which needs to be picked up for healthy professional relationships. The beautiful

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learning is ‘never judge, blame or gossip as a professional’. A value like this helps us to stay focussed.

I keep discovering your depth of understanding human issues. You speak little but are fully aware and highly evolved intellectually. You come across as a well-read person when discussing larger issues and concerns. I was happy and surprised to discover that you found time to read aloud books like Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull to your small children, Charlie and Ava. Each one of us in the academic world dealing with children’s education at schools, young persons at college and university levels need to make an effort to keep updating our knowledge. This value is unfortunately getting lost.

You keep counting your blessings. You are a positive person. Your mother, Gertrud Mueller, you adore and revere. You are proud that she is highly motivated and hard working person with high intellect. She not only takes care of herself in her late 80s, but is able to show many other gestures of kindness to those around her in Ochsenfurt, a town near Frankfurt where you were born! Your eyes brighten up when you talk about her. Your father, who is no more, you respect. A clear message for everyone to pick up from you is ‘be proud of your parents’.

It was a learning experience to observe how you ensure discipline by checking loud laughters of patients and physio therapist by gently reminding them ‘we need to focus, which is possible, only when we are serious’. The subtle message has stayed with me. I keep this in mind.

I am reminded of an incident when you were discussing my problems with me, your friend called from Germany to inform you that his kids had met with an accident. You were upset and wanted to immediately call back to speak to a surgeon in the hospital. You saw me struggling to stabilise after sitting for long, you waited till I stabilised and then ran to your chamber to attend to your friend’s children by getting in touch with an Orthopaedic surgeon there.

Your contribution of creating a team which has sensitivity and empathy for every patient is of a rare kind. When I had episodes of fluctuating blood pressure and palpitations, you were always there to guide. Once when it got worse, you were in constant touch with Christina. You assured me, ‘I will arrange everything to help you

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come out of a difficult health situation. Your call, I will always answer.’ You guided Christina gently without creating panic.

My belief gets strength from you that every student, colleague and friend has the potential to improve. Your philosophy that every patient has the potential to improve and participate in his/ her treatment and well-being is transacted in its true spirit. This should be a message for every good teacher, doctor, parent and administrator!

I have known you for eight years but it is like we are very old close friends. You respond spontaneously when I am in pain or sad. There is some kind of telepathy. Our meetings have become rare but I know you will always be there and reach out whenever I will need your goodness and your strength to overcome difficulties of health and emotions.

Thank you for being a loving friend Gerd, for your assurance and for your quiet messages that you care!

I would not have known you if Queenie had not insisted that I meet you and supported my treatment in every way!

Dr Sumiran Passey

Ever since you took over as incharge of AktivHealth, Gurgaon Centre, there is a positive energy and genuine concern for patients. Your presence brings in a message that you care for every patient. It is a good feeling to realise that you remain grateful to your elders, to those from whom you learn and find the books to read to learn even more!

I am touched by your warmth each time I visit the Centre, always finding time to address my pain and discomfort even before I can tell you. Forgetting many a times that you have to leave, you put your bags back to give me a feeling, that you can wait and that there is no rush to leave. Thank you Sumiran for your loving care.

Physiotherapists at AktivHealth

Christina, Harikant, Sandeep, Sourav, Akshay, Praveen, Roshan and Gargi – each one of you have gone out of your way to address issues of my excruciating pain, fatigue and imbalance. You are sensitive, observant and think of ways to make me feel better.

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Each has her/his own way of addressing the issue, nonetheless, there is definitely some relief after the session gets over. I need to thank Ben, Taranjit and Ritika who remain concerned about my well-being. Azeem, you impress me with your good values. Kriti, Anugya and Keyur, I love your smiles and concern for me. I might have inadvertently left out names of many, but I appreciate each one’s respect and regard for me and their skills. Panchali and Harmeet, I feel the warmth of your hugs.

Each one of you pass on a strong message of respecting your patient’s needs, never imposing. Whenever the designated Physiotherapist is not there due to leave or illness, the one who takes over remains informed about the patient through records, files and the treatment last received. Each one of you is positive about the strength of the other. You pass on a lovely message of the need to build team spirit which has been conceptualised and implemented by Dr Gerd Mueller and encouraged in all the ActivHealth clinics everyday in spirit.

Dr Amit Sachdev

I will ever be grateful to you for holding my hand to address my fears of having difficult dental procedures soon after Devendra’s departure. Everyone in your team was so good. I managed because you kept assuring ‘Ma’am, I am here, don’t worry!’

Dr Abhinav Sharma

You are an orthodontist at Clove Dental Clinic, Gurgaon. You helped me overcome my fears of a difficult long dental procedure by giving me space to walk in between and your hand to help me get up and settle back again and again with my painful spine! Thank you for your care and for finding Dr Mayank Sharma to deal with my dental issues with patience, making them almost painless! Thank you Dr Reshu Garg for your caring treatment and Dr Radhika Raval for your support.