A Doctor

By Dr Pratiksha Kamath

They say Hospital walls have heard more prayers than a temple wall, indeed it’s true. The relationship between a doctor and a patient stays the highest. It’s one of the purest relations.

But when this relation becomes materialistic it even turns out to be inhuman.

Doctors are built to have a good heart, an incredibly smart mind, a lot of courage and a lot of selflessness. But not everyone turns out that good. Few start running behind fame and money and lose their purpose of life and eventually their existence. And when a Doctor loses his purpose, humanity loses its ray of hope.

They say the noblest profession, is just two, one is a doctor and one is a teacher. One who makes all professions and the other who takes care of them selflessly. Hence we have slogans like “ Acharya devo bhava” ( Teacher is God) and “Vaidyo devo bhava” (Doctor is Narayana himself).

But it's very unfortunate that these two are forgotten soon. Hence, there is a sanskrit slogan “Vaidyascha Upadyacha Karyante” (doctors and teachers are not necessary to us after their service), this is a sarcastic way of reminding us never to forget doctors and teachers.

For a Doctor, it doesn’t matter how much he earns at the end of the day, what matters more is how much suffering he has rid people of. A doctor is considered next to god as he brings back life into a suffering and ill person. Money comes and goes but the blessing of the patient and his relatives is beyond any description.

Many probably enter medical schools with a hope of relieving many people of their sufferings. In an OT when a doctor is operating on the patient, the patient sees none of his own people. But the gentle smile of the doctor gives a ray of hope and comfort to the patient. Have you ever experienced a patient in pain holding your hand when they are in pain, and the same hands thanking you when they feel good. This is the ultimate feeling and the ultimate goal for a doctor.

A doctor is the one who fights with the most deadliest disease for you without giving a second thought of him getting infected. Thousands of diseases come and go but the spirit of a doctor doesn’t die. He might die losing to the disease and it’s spread but he’ll never turn his back and run away from treating anyone. Such is a true Doctor.

Whether you are rich or poor. Whether you are a terrorist or a civilian.A doctor will always treat you no matter what.

Doctors sacrifice a lot of their dreams and wishes. Go through lots of hardships and stress and yet they don’t complain. When the time comes they act selflessly. Let’s be proud of all the doctors and the upcoming doctors. Let’s help each other uplift the society to better.

By Dr Pratiksha Kamath