N. Raghuraman's column: Empathy works faster than drugs in treatment

I don't remember how many times I went to the dispensary of our family physician, late Dr. Haridas, in Nagpur with a bent back and fatigue. But I remember that 90 percent of the time I came out of the same dispensary in just 20 minutes with a straight waist, smiling and jumping. At first, the doctor patted my head. Then he would ask me to stick my tongue out and look inside it with a torch as if I was hiding something there. Then he would examine my heart and lungs with his stethoscope. He would hold my wrists with his neatly manicured hands and talk to me about things that had nothing to do with my illness. He would ask what I ate today, which subject was too difficult or easy for me. Which teacher do I like the most? Finally, he would give me a pill and ask me to eat it in front of him, with the belief that 'this pill will cast a spell within you.' You'll be dancing and jumping from here in 10 minutes. I never realized that the magic of my healing was not because of the pill he gave me, but because of the magic words and patience he gave to the patient. This is exactly what President Droupadi Murmu said while addressing the first convocation of AIIMS Gorakhpur this Monday. "A compassionate doctor treats not only by medicines but also by his behaviour. Empathetic care accelerates the patient's recovery. A doctor's patience and dedication sets a role model for society. He described medicine as not just a profession but a true service to humanity. The President presented degrees and medals to the graduating students at the ceremony and expressed happiness to be a part of this historic event. As the President mentioned, there are hundreds of doctors in the country and I vividly remember one of them, the late Dr V Balasubramanian, who was popularly known as the 'Rs 20 wala doctor'. A man who was a god for the poor. In November 2016, the streets of his home and dispensary in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, were flooded with people who had come to pay homage to their beloved 'doctor with 20 rupees'. He never charged more than Rs 20 for treatment from his patients. First, he started by offering consultation to his patients for just Rs 2 and then increased it very marginally for many years. Even in 2014, he used to charge only Rs 10 from the patient. There are still many doctors like him in the country. When Dr. S.M. Ziaur Rahman was working in a very reputed private hospital in Delhi, he came to a very poor patient from Khagaria in Bihar. Ziaur Rahman himself was a resident of there. The patient travelled about 1,200 km to reach him for treatment. This motivated him to quit his high-paying job in Delhi and treat patients in his hometown for just Rs 50. For the last 35 years, Dr. Ramanand Singh of Barbigha village in Bihar, Dr. Ejaz Ali of Patna, Dr. Noori Parveen of Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Shankaregowda of Karnataka charge such a low fee that not even a cup of tea can be purchased from the roadside gumthi. But when we hear the cry of patients crying for help in the corridors of government hospitals in the country, these doctors provide medical treatment. The funda is that perhaps these practitioners know how important a healthy population is to a progressive nation. And that's why they're so full of empathy.