Thursday, 21 July 2016
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
Subhashini Mistry who buid a hospital
Subhashini Mistry lives in a village called Hanspukur just about
20 Km south of the city of Kolkata. Misfortune dogged Subhashini Mistry from
the moment of her birth. She was born during the Bengal famine that drove
impoverished farmers to starvation and death across the countryside.
Her father, a marginal farmer who owned a tiny patch of land in
Kulwa village about 30 kms south west of Kolkata, was unable to feed his 14
children. Her mother scoured the land, begging for rice from the churches,
ashrams, NGOs, government offices and landlords of the area. Over the next few
years, seven of the children died.
At 12, Subhashini was married off to Sadhan Chandra Mistry, an
agricultural worker who lived in Hanspukur village.. He earnedRs.200 a
month. In 1971, he was working on small farms on a daily wage basis. During the
off-season, he served and washed utensils in his village tea-stall. He
supported his family of five- his wife Subhasini and four children, frequently
on earnings that amounted to less than one rupee a day. The Mistry family lived
in a thatched house in Hanspukur – a village in the 24 Parganas district on the
outskirts of Kolkatta.
Disaster struck in 1971. One particular cropping season, the rains
were exceptionally heavy in Kolkatta. Her husband Sadhan fell ill while working on the
paddy farm. He had diaorrhea, but Subhasini did not know what to do. There was
no money in the house. Her husband began writhing in pain and she rushed him to
the district hospital in Tollygunge, Kolkata. The anxiety over her husband’s
deteriorating condition gave way to horror as she realized that the doctors and
nurses refused to pay any attention to him because he was penniless. This
government hospital was mandated to provide free service to the poor. But
reality was that patients needed either money or connections to get treatment.
After remaining ill for three days, he succumbed to the disease, and died of
dehydration. Poverty and
callous hospital staff had killed her husband.
But that was only the beginning of Subhashini’s torment. She
became a widow at 23. Her husband was the sole breadwinner of the family. She
was poor and illiterate with four small frightened, hungry children to raise.
Subhashini struggled to make ends meet, cooking and cleaning all day long for
her family. Her parents and brothers were so poor, they could barely support
themselves.
Subhashini made an oath that fateful day. No one
should suffer her fate. She vowed she would do what it takes to spare people of
this nightmare. She would build a hospital for the poor.
She only knew housework, so she started working as a maid servant
in five houses nearby, earning a total of Rs.100 a
month.
Mistry told IANS: “When my husband passed away, I was in shock
initially. Then I realised I had four hungry mouths to feed. My oldest child, a
son, was four-and-a-half-years old at the time. My youngest, a daughter, was
one-and-a-half.
“I had no education and couldn’t even tell the time. So I decided
I would do whatever work that was available. I started out as an aayah
(domestic help) in the nearby houses.”
” I don’t regret that I had to put two of my children in an
orphanage, that I couldn’t educate them. There were things needed to be done
for the greater good.”
She recalls: “There is no work my hands have not done. I have
cooked, mopped floors, washed utensils, cleaned gardens, polished shoes,
concreted roofs.” Her son Ajoy was a good student. She sent him to an orphanage
in Kolkata so he could get a decent education. The other three children helped
her with housework.
Soon she discovered she could pick vegetables that grew on the
wayside in Dhapa village and sell them. She realized that selling vegetables
would fetch more money than doing other people’s housework. So she and her
children moved to Dhapa village where she rented a hut for Rs.5 a month. She
began selling vegetables in Dhapa village, and gradually, as her business grew,
she headed for Kolkata. She set up her wayside stall on bridge Number Four in
Park Circus in central Kolkata. She started earning about Rs.500 a month. She spent nothing on herself
and little on her children, except for Ajoy’s education.
Two of my sons worked in a tea stall. We survived on boiled rice
for years. I couldn’t even send them to school,” Subhashini recalled. “I
knew my children had to go to school and at least one had to be a doctor, or
else my dream would never come true.” She said. In the meantime, her children
grew up. The two daughters were married off. The eldest son chose to be a
labourer, working in agricultural fields. Her other son, the youngest of the
lot, Ajoy Mistry was identified by Subhasini to carry on her mission. He was a brilliant student even as he
grew up in a children’s home.
“My mother could not afford to send me to school. But she wanted
us to study seriously, which we did. I was initially not keen on taking up medicine. In
fact, I studied chemistry because I felt that was my subject,” said Ajoy.
Ajoy changed track, too, and in 1990,he
successfully completed his secondary education and passed the All India Medical
Entrance Test. Aided by the German Scholarship, he joined Calcutta Medical
College where he completed his medical course. He graduated a year before the foundation stone
for Humanity Hospital was laid.
Subhashini had not given up on her dream. She
was determined to build that hospital. She put aside the majority of what she
earned and after around 30 years she had collected enough to buy a plot of
land. One of the
babus (landlords) was selling off his land. I went to him and fell at his feet
to let me buy the plot for a lesseramount.He relented and finally a part of my
dream came true,” said Mistry.In 1992,
she bought one acre of land in her husband’s village, Hanspukur, for Rs.10,000
She gathered the villagers and told them of her plan. She would
donate her one acre land for the hospital, but the villagers would have to
donate money to build a thatched shed that could serve as a dispensary for the
poor.
The public donation totalled Rs.926. Some villagers contributed in kind
providing bamboos, palm leaves, truckloads of earth, wooden planks. The poorest
offered their labour. Thus, a 20 feet by 20 feet temporary shed was constructed
in 1993.
In 1993, the hospital was started from a
thatched shed on a one acre land bought by Subhasini from her lifelong savings.In 1993,
Ajoy Mistry authored the trust deed of Humanity Trust with his mother Subhasini
Mistry as the co-founder trustee.
Then an auto rickshaw fitted with a loudspeaker plied the
countryside over a 10 km radius, pleading with doctors to offer their free
service at the newly opened Hanspukur shed at least once a week for the poor
and needy. Simultaneously, villagers went from door to door urging residents to
donate their surplus medicines.
The first doctor to respond to the call was Dr.Raghupathy Chatterjee.
Five others followed in rapid succession – a general physician, paediatrician,
orthopedic, ophthalmologist and a homeopath. Each one of them offered free
service, ranging from two to four hours a week. On the very first day, 252
patients were treated. Humanity hospital, as the little shed was named, never
looked back.
Not that the going was easy. Monsoon was pure hell. There was knee
deep water inside the shed. The patients had to be treated on the road. So it
was decided to build a concrete roof covering a 1,000 sq feet area. This
required much more money.
Ajoy knocked on the door of the local Member of Parliament, Malini
Bhattacharya. At first, he made no headway. The door remained firmly shut. But
he persisted. Bit by bit, the door opened and finally he managed to meet the MP
and explain his mother’s goal.
Over a period of time, he won her over and after seeing with her
own eyes Subhashini’s single minded devotion to her charitable work, Malini
supported the Humanity Hospital whole heartedly. She helped them to raise
sufficient funds and so the foundation stone was laid in 1993. Not a single
reporter attended the event.
However, after the hospital was constructed, with Malini’s and the
local MLA’s help, Subhashini was able to get the governor of West Bengal to
inaugurate it. The governor’s presence ensured the presence of a flock of
reporters. The media coverage had a healthy fall out – a trickle, though not a
torrent, of donations, followed.
A group of trustees – including doctors, eminent local citizens
and serving IPS officers guided the hospital, which has now expanded to include
gynecology, cardiology, ENT, urology, oncology, diabetology and surgery. They
now have 3 acres of land and the hospital has expanded to 9,000 sq feet spread
over two floors.
Through all this growth, Subhashini was clear about her goal. This
was a hospital for the poor. This was not a business. Yet, she knew that the
hospital had to be self sufficient. It cannot survive forever on donations.
So while the poor got free treatment, those who lived above
poverty line had to pay Rs.10 for
consultation. Still, this is not sufficient to cover the day to day expense of
running a hospital. “There is a perpetual shortage of funds. We live from month
to month,” reveals Ajoy.
How did she achieve all this? She says: “Inner Strength.” She adds
with rustic wisdom: “God in his infinite grace gave me a vision at the darkest
moment in my life. From then on, my life had a purpose. I used whatever
strength God gave me to make sure other poor people did not lose their loved
ones for lack of medical attention.”
With her son Ajoy at the helm of the hospital, the doughty
Subhashini went back to doing what she knew best – selling vegetables, back at
Bridge Number 4. She still lives in the same house. Her elder daughter and son
too sell vegetables. Her youngest daughter has become a nurse and works in the
hospital.
Three years ago, Ajoy persuaded her to stop selling vegetables.
She was getting old; her knees were giving her trouble. She now tends the sick
in the hospital. Says she: “This hospital means everything to me. It is my
wealth, my knowledge, my happiness.”
But her mission is not yet over. Says she: “Only when this
hospital becomes a full-fledged 24-hour hospital can I die happy.”
The multi-specialty ‘Humanity Hospital’ has a total floor space of
15,000 sq. ft, with two fully equipped operation theatres and 30 beds. There
are 22 visiting doctors in the hospital. The hospital treats about 1000
patients per month. Nobody is refused treatment. And no money is ever asked
for. Subhashini and Ajoy spend more than 16 hours at the hospital every day.
Subhashini’s story is a staggering account of what human will can
achieve, of indomitable spirit, of a rise, phoenix like.
(Extract from the book ‘Unsung’ by Anita Pratap and Mahesh Bhat),
Source: the weekend leader
View these videos to know more about her inspiring life
Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal ranks third among the top singles badminton players
in the world and is the only Indian to have reached the singles quarter finals
at the Olympics, and won the World Junior Badminton Championships in 2008. 20
year old Saina Nehwal’s three titles in three weeks is a phenomenal achievement
for the Indian sport.
Saina was born in Hisar, Haryana,India and spent her complete life
in city of Hyderabad. Her foray into the world of badminton was influenced by
her father Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds
Research, Hyderabad and her mother Usha Nehwal, both of whom were former
badminton champions in Haryana.
What does it take to make a
badminton star like Saina Nehwal? Ask her father Harvir Singh.
If Saina battles it out on the badminton court against the world’s
best players, it has been no less a battle for her father to let her do the
same.
Rarely a middle-class family can think of spending half of the
monthly income on an eight-year-old child’s training without knowing if the
gamble would pay off.
But Harvir Singh, a Scientist with the Directorate of Oilseeds
Research Hyderabad, opted to go by the advice of PSS Nani Prasad Rao, the then
badminton coach of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP), who saw
immense potential in the girl.
“I met Nani Prasad Rao in December, 1998, at Lal Bahadur Stadium
in Hyderabad. Saina was standing with a badminton racket on the court and he
asked her to play. After watching her game, he said,‘She has the potential and
if you want to train her, bring her to me as a summer trainee,” Harvir said.
The tough journey had started. Saina had to be taken to the
stadium every day early in the morning and the distance from the house was 20
km.
“It was a challenge for both of us because I had to wake up early
so that we could reach the stadium by 6 am. The training session used to last
for about two hours.
After attending the training session, Saina had to attend school.
This way I had to drive my scooter around 50 km daily as Saina, apart from
attending rigorous practice sessions, had to concentrate on studies,” her
father explained.
The impact of this tough routine began to show in the first week
as Saina would often fall asleep on the back seat.
Sensing the danger, Saina’s mother started accompanying them on
the two-wheeler. This continued for three months.
Ultimately, the family had to arrange a house near the stadium in
1999. This time the distance was about 7 km from the stadium.
But the travelling ordeal did not end here as Saina was asked to
attend evening training sessions as well.
“With an extra training session, the travelling expenditure rose
to Rs 150 per day. Added to this was the cost of training. Shuttles, racket,
shoes, guttings and what not had to be purchased regularly. I spent around Rs
12,000 every month to keep her going those days,” Harvir said.
But how did the family manage such high-cost training? Saina’s
father revealed that he had to sacrifice his savings.
“I started withdrawing money from my provident fund. Sometimes it
was Rs 30,000 and other times it was nearly Rs 1 lakh. It happened more than
five times when I had to shell out money from my PF savings due to Saina’s
various requirements,” said Harvir.
He stated that the tight-rope walk continued till 2002 until Yonex
Sunrise sports offered to sponsor Saina’s kit.
“It came as a big relief. Fortunately, she got BPCL support late
in 2004. Ultimately, she was spotted by Mittal Sports Trust in December, 2005.
“But I had never disclosed to Saina my financial difficulties
fearing that she might get disturbed knowing that her father was left with no
savings for the future,” he said.
When asked if they got any help from the sports authorities, the
answer said it all.
“Till 2003, she was getting Rs 600 per month from the Sports
Authority of India (SAI). It was raised to Rs 2,500 in June, 2003. You can
understand how I could have managed,” Harvir said.
Apart from the training cost, hefty telephone bills put extra
financial burden on the family when Saina started touring foreign countries for
events.
The byte-crazy media played a part too. Wherever she went, be it
the Philippines or South Korea, her phone kept ringing.
“A major part of the prize money that Saina got from big
competitions like the Philippines Open and World Junior Championship was
utilised in paying her mobile bills, which were between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000
in the touring months,” he said.
But was the prize money enough when she began her career? “Saina
was given just Rs 300 as prize money after winning the under-10 state level
competition, held in Tirupati in 1999. The period between 1999-2004 was very
trying for the family as we did not get any sponsor for her,” Harvir said.
It was not only the financial burden but the risk of lagging
behind on the educational front which added to the pressure.
Saina had to skip examinations twice. She did not take her first
year intermediate exams because of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and later
in May, she could not write supplementary exams as she was in the Philippines.
At present she is studying in the second year at Saint Ann’s
College, Mehdipatnam Hyderabad. Ironically, the family, despite her big success
at the international level, has not been able to celebrate much.
“She has never been to any party, any restaurant or cinema in the
past seven years. When the electronic media personnel visited my home in May
last year for shooting of a programme, I could not even offer them sweets. Do I
need to explain why,” he said.
The key to Saina’s Success is simple. Know and set your goal.
Stick to one goal – if you chase two rabbits, both will escape. Knowing the
goal clearly is crucial. People with a goal succeed because they know where
they are going..
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