B D Sharma
Many people consider the tenure of Ghulam Mohd Sadiq as the golden period of governance in Jammu and Kashmir. He was fortunate in having EN Mangat Rai as Chief Secretary. The latter had served as Chief Secretary of the then large state of Punjab, consisting of present day Punjab plus Haryana and lower HP and he utilized his experience of that State for introducing many administrative reforms here. The duo laid the foundation of a set of procedures for entrance in the professional institutions and recruitment in the State Government service. The days of favouritism and arbitrariness seen during the days of Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad was given, to a large extent, a goodbye. Since the Engineering College and the Medical College had already been set up during Bakhshi’s time so the establishment of a well- defined procedure for admission to these colleges proved to be a boon to all the deserving persons. It is worthwhile to note that the craze for the medical and engineering professions was at its peak during the 1960s/1970s and the need for a set procedure for the selection of trainees was essential to obviate the temptation for manipulation.
For admission in the Medical College the merit i.e. the percentage of marks secured by the candidates in the University examination of 12th class, Ist Year TDC as it was called, was the criterion. About 50 percent students from the Matriculation stream and 50 percent from the Higher Secondary stream used to get admission in the two professional colleges. The proportionate number of students from the Higher Secondary Schools was large because Higher Secondary schools were situated in the urban areas only, at about fifty Tehsil headquarters, where educational facilities were better. From the rural areas only two or three students per tehsil would succeed to get admission in the professional colleges. The number from the farmers and other disadvantaged sections of society was even less. One of those few fortunate people was my friend, Bhagwan Das Sharma who got admission in the Medical College Jammu in the year, 1972. After an illustrious career of about three and a half decades, he retired from the Central Health Services few years back and has penned the experiences of his personal and professional life in a recently published book: “Bare-Footed Journey Against all odds – autobiography of a doctor from the hinterland of India.”
The book tells us the story which starts from the border village of Rehal in tehsil Bishanah. The author, Dr Bhagwan Das Sharma, (BD Sharma for short), was born in a farmer’s family where the parents expected their children to help them in the farming chores rather than “wasting” time on studies. Despite all the hardships, he qualified for admission in the Medical College Jammu by the dint of his sheer hard work. After completing his MBBS, he appeared in the All India Examination conducted by the UPSC and joined the Central Health Service in Delhi. He was tipped to be posted to Ladakh but while he was fulfilling the preliminaries in Delhi, the personal Physician of the then Prime Minister happened to require an assistant for few days as his regular assistant was not available. As luck would have it Dr Sharma was sent to him and the former impressed the latter so much with his work that the senior doctor got him permanently attached with him and in this way Dr Sharma’s career took a new orientation. The consistency in his performance of duties ensured that he spent all his career in Delhi barring a short stint in Iran and three years in PGI Chandigarh for postgraduation. During his career in Delhi, he got to work on the sensitive assignments of VVIP Medicare. After retiring from the service, he continues to be active in the profession and is working as Senior Consultant Physician in a Private Corporate hospital in Delhi.
The book is an autobiographical description of the challenges he faced at various stages of his life/career and the innovative ways he designed to overcome them. It was sheer grit and perseverance on the part of the author to come out of them all. His observations and experiences of the life journey of about seven decades has been narrated in a very simple and forthright manner. It includes not only the difficulties and struggles he had to undergo in his personal life but also describes some problems in his professional career.
The author has divided the book in nineteen chapters, namely Reminiscences, The Aik River, Indo-Pak War of 1965, The Middle and High School (Rehal) The Science College (GGM Science College Jammu), The Medical College (Jammu), Internship, Teething Troubles in Delhi, Delhi to Deh-Ali (a village in Iran), Lust for Specialization, The Tsunami, Unique Experiences, The Challenges and Rewards of Sade-Sati, Feeling the Heat in Ladakh, Destiny, Becoming a Doctor Then and Now, and Clinical Anecdotes.
His descriptions of the village life in the chapter, The Village Republic of Rehal, draws a beautiful sketch of the socio- economic and cultural scenario of the villages of 1950s and 1960s in our State. While dealing with the small rivulet Aik flowing along his village, he not only reminisces about the crystal- clear water of his childhood days but also regrets the degradation and neglect to which it has been subjected to over the years. The struggles which a student had to undergo in those days has been well documented in the chapters on School and College and should be an eye opener to the present generation, who have plenty of facilities, as to how hard the students had to work during those days. The difficulties encountered in setting up the shop in the capital city of the country by a youngman from a far-off village should also be a mirror to all those who desire to explore new pastures in this highly competitive world. His experiences in Iran also throw light on various aspects of life in a country with which we have very old historical relations. He has dwelt in some details the role of stars and destiny in determining our future when he discusses the effects of Sade-Satti (Seven- and a half year sojourn of Saturn), and the role of Destiny in our life. It leaves us with a question whether the stars have any role in determining the way our life has to tread. Becoming a Doctor Then and Now reflects his take on current issues confronting his chosen profession vis-à-vis the time when he became a doctor. Very interesting anecdotes have also been given in the chapter Unique Experiences. Some of them may have been reflected in a lighter vein but they do have a bearing upon his reader. Each chapter of the book has
something interesting and nostalgic for the reader, at least for the people of our generation who were born in early post- independence years and who had to struggle a lot day and night for attaining something in life. Overall, it is a very insightful and readable book both by the people of author’s profession and the common man. One deficiency is, however, there that the book is currently available only in the Amazon as Kindle e-Book. And though it is meagerly priced at Rupees 49/- yet interested persons, lacking digital acumen, may experience difficulty in accessing the book.
Book Link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0BHP7RTX4
(The reviewer is a former civil servant)
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