Gordhan Kanayalal Rajani, the first doctor of Indian origin in the history of the remote Danish colony near Iceland, who is stranded in Mumbai has turned personal misfortune into a blessing by alleviating pain and suffering in Mumbai
Gordhan Kanayalal Rajani, the first doctor of Indian origin in the history of the remote Danish colony near Iceland, who is stranded in Mumbai has turned personal misfortune into a blessing by alleviating pain and suffering in Mumbai
Unable to return home in the Faroes Islands because of the chaos caused by volcano Eyjafjallajokull, Gordhan Kanayalal Rajani, the first doctor of Indian origin in the history of the remote Danish colony near Iceland, has turned personal misfortune into a blessing by alleviating pain and suffering in Mumbai.
The affable Rajani (GK to his legion of friends) had rushed recently to Mumbai with his charming wife Gudrun for the funeral of his brother.
Stranded in Mumbai and waiting for air traffic to his distant northerly home to resume, the 76-year old orthopaedic surgeon, whose knowledge of general medicine and surgery is encyclopedic, has been playing Good Samaritan and providing the healing touch, free of charge, to a large number of patients here.
The Faroes (Foroyar), with a population of around 50,000, is a colony of Denmark.
Descendants of Viking convicts who fled Norway by sea around the year 900 A.D. and settled in the Faroes and Iceland, the fiercely-independent natives have their own flag, national anthem and currency. Their language is more akin to Icelandic than to that of Scandinavian neighbours, Norway and Denmark.
A penniless 'GK' sought fresh pastures in London at the age of 25 (along with illustrious neurophysician Dr Bhim Singhal) after a brief stint at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital following studies at the Jai Hind and Grant Medical colleges, thanks to friends who raised the money.
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Rajani left London, where he worked for six years as orthopaedic surgeon, because of what he terms discrimination. "One of my superiors, in particular, treated me like a dog," he says.
By accepting a job offer in Torshan (Faroes), the intrepid Indian doctor, a self-styled "great admirer of orthopaedic surgeon Dr. B.T. Dholakia" became (in his words) "the first brown Indian doctor in the history of the Faroes".
He carries PIO (Person of Indian Origin) and Danish European Union passports and although "very proud to be Indian" says he is "very, very proud to be Faroese". He describes his adopted home as "heaven on earth" and says the locals there are "very family-oriented like us Indians".
Recipient of the First Order Class Knight of Denmark award for distinguished services, Rajani was born in Shikarpur, Sind and fled Karachi during the 1947 riots at the age of 13 with his grandmother and uncle with the help of A.K. Brohi (a classmate of Ram Jethmalani), who went on to become law minister of Pakistan.
An avid gardener and golfer, GK has been following the sun annually to come to Mumbai (at times, with his doting siblings) for the past 20 years to perfect his swing. Father of five children and 14 grandchildren, who all love India, Rajani considers the golf course at the Willingdon Sports Club arguably "the best in the country".
TAILPIECE An e-mail from Iceland says: "It took Hitler three years to close the airspace above England. It's taken Iceland a mere three days to close the airspace over all of Europe."
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