I served in the capacity of Secretary, medical education, twice. In that position, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow, came under my department. This gave me an opportunity to come in contact with several good doctors. The friendship and association with many of them continues till date. One such doctor was several years younger to me. He was known for his competence as well as his manners. Patients felt very comfortable with him and his name spread fast in the medical fraternity. Incidentally, I was also one of his patients and this brought us even closer.
After serving for a few years at SGPGI, he got an offer from the Apollo hospital in Delhi. Though he was very happy in Lucknow, he decided to shift mainly on account of some personal problems. He was very well aware of the fact that SGPGI campus at Lucknow provided much more peace than what he would find in Delhi. After shifting to Delhi, he got a residence quite far from his place of work. Travelling to his work place in the morning and back home in the evening consumed about two hours. However, from the emoluments point of view, the Delhi job was much better than the Lucknow job. It was during this period that I visited him in Delhi. I had gone there for training and was staying at a place very near to his residence. One morning, I fixed up an appointment with him and reached his place half an hour before he used to leave for the hospital. That day, he had some other work also and, therefore, had to leave about fifteen minutes earlier than usual. As a result, he was in a hurry and we could barely exchange pleasantries. However, I noticed that he was having his breakfast – standing, with a dry bun in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
This looked quite amusing to me and I thought about those poor people who take the same breakfast but in a much more relaxed way and I humorously pointed this out to him. My comparison of his breakfast was with that of a rickshaw-puller in Lucknow who takes his breakfast on a roadside tea stall in a relaxed manner. And at that time, he either refuses to attend his customer or makes him wait till he finishes his munch. My young doctor friend was in total agreement with me but had no alternative. He had come to Delhi for better professional opportunities and not for better breakfast. Eventually, he achieved much more name and fame. However, I have no information about his breakfast and whether it continues to be the same or has become even simpler.
Rakesh Mittal IAS
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