Women in white, spreading the light

Tomorrow is the date of his birth as well as his death Separated by 80 years of an outstanding innings of service and statesmanship From July 1 1882 to July 1 1962 Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy rose to become the countryrsquos preeminent physician and ruled as chief minister of West Bengal from 1950 until his death Qualified as MRCP FRCS Dr BC Roy was the inaugural president of the Cardiological Society of India and contributed immensely to medical education He believed that swaraj as a call to action for freedom from the British was futile if not wrested by a people strong in body and mindTo commemorate his ideals July 1 is designated National Doctorsrsquo Day The right time to honour pioneering women doctors from BombayIn a life cut short tragically by tuberculosis Anandibai Joshi 18651887 acquired the distinction of being the countryrsquos first lady physician and also the first Indian woman to complete her studies in Western medicine from the United States The Womenrsquos Medical College Pennsylvania admitted her for a twoyear degree when she was 19 impressed by her singular aim to administer to Indian women patients who would rather risk dying than be treated by a male physician Stunned tutors noticed she was the sole student to sit unflinching in an autopsy session where an infant cadaver was dissectedAnandibai Joshi the first woman physician from India to have trained abroad in the US with her batchmatesmdashwho went on to become the first women physicians of Japan and Syria respectivelymdashKei Okami and Sabat Islambooly of the Womenrsquos Medical College Pennsylvania PicWikimedia CommonsFate stepping in cruelly she died soon after the Albert Edward Hospital in the princely state of Kolhapur appointed her physicianincharge of its womenrsquos wards Her shining example subsequently inspired thousands of Indian women to take up a profession allowing them to forge their own identity which till then was predominated by men The lasting public welfare achievements of a legendary doctorphilanthropist couple have christened DrsquoMonte Park Road in Bandra Dr DA DrsquoMonte grandfather of journalist Darryl DrsquoMonte donated massive adjacent plots of land for the Salsette Society including the 1935founded Bandra Gymkhana His gynaecologist wife Dr Cecilia Rose DrsquoMonte 18751940 enjoyed high regard in medical circles She was the first Indian chief medical officer at the 1886established Cama and Albless Hospital at Dhobi Talao and the first woman appointed to the Bombay Medical Council House surgeons of the hospital have her grant of R16000mdashextremely generous in those yearsmdashto thank for hostel quarters on campus Strongly feminist young Cecilia Ferreira had been the recipient of any number of proposals from prominent East Indian families including that of a leading lawyer She declined sensing reluctance by way of a frank answer to the only question she posed Will I be able to continue my work From the family of Dr Dominic Anaclete DrsquoMonte came the clear reply that decided things ldquoYou can do anything you want tordquoDr Juliet De Sa Souza at her daughter Lynette Saldanharsquos wedding in 1972That was a liberalminded response for the late 1800s points out psychoanalyst Zarine DrsquoMonte Dr Ceciliarsquos granddaughterinlaw There ensued the expected struggle between career and motherhood when she had three children She would routinely rush home to Summit View the ancestral DrsquoMonte bungalow on Bandra Hill near Mount Maryrsquos Basilica to feed them dinner after a long day at the hospital And brave it back there to work late into the night Determinedly she travelled this distance daily through the years following the 1896 plague outbreak ldquoShe chose the man who let her be everything she aspired tordquo says Zarine introducing me to her niece Sunita the greatgranddaughter of Cecilia DrsquoMonte ldquoI have heard how devoted she was to her practice and how patients grateful for her care even offered small pieces of jewelleryrdquo says SunitaDrsquoMontersquos obstetrician contemporary Dr Kashibai Navrange 18781946 was as much a social reformer The first Indian woman doctor to open her own clinic in Bombaymdashin 1907 at Bhuleshwarmdash her garbhavati chikitsalay for pregnant women provided free medication to the poor among them Engaging in multiple social development activities she was closely associated with the Prarthana Samaj begun by Atmaram Pandurang and the Arya Mahila Samaj started by Pandita Ramabai to help underprivileged women In 191617 under the Arya Mahila Samaj she initiated a milk fund for lactating mothers which supplied free milk to expecting mothers too A treeshaded street named for Kashibai Navrange is tucked away in a quiet part of Gamdevi as is a hostel for women studentsDr Kashibai Navrange the first woman doctor to open a clinic in the city in 1907Not far from here a stillstanding Babulnath property once held the home and hospital of a luminary in the field of maternal health Over the phone from New Zealand Lynette Saldanha shares a history of De Sarsquos Hospital and her mother Dr Juliet De Sa Souza 19151987mdashone of the first Indian women to be elected Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh Buying the building opposite Bombay Garage at Babulnath Saldanharsquos gynaecologist grandfather Dr Herculano De Sa opened this institution as a 1930s maternity facility He was joined by his daughter JulietldquoIrsquove met hundreds of women around the world telling me how tenderly lsquoDr Julietrsquo delivered them and their babies My mother was like chocolate with a soft centre swayed by any sob storyrdquo says Saldanha ldquoA professor and head of department in Grant Medical College she is as well remembered by her students with the greatest admiration and affectionrdquoMarvelling at her mother juggling heavy government hospital schedules and her private nursing home hours Saldanha says ldquoI donrsquot know how she brilliantly balanced it all When I was just six she told me lsquoYou must grow to stand on your own two feetrsquo It stuck in my head She pushed me to study Economics at Cambridge and work for the UN My oncologist brother Dr LJ de Souza and I had a wonderful role model in her Living a floor above the clinic we grew up with the sight of blood to put it bluntly lsquoMummy Irsquom goingrsquo we unfailingly announced every morning before leaving for school She came out in an apron covered in blood to say Bye and if possible give us a quick kiss each If it was possible to grab some short afternoon rest between morning births and evening consultations that was disturbed by me running straight to her bed to babble about my day at St Annersquosrdquo Dr Jerusha Jhirad welcoming Reform Rabbi Hugo Gryn of Britain to BombayWhether attending to film stars or to the poorest women ldquoDr Julietrdquo treated everyone the same She sustained the community service tradition of weekly free clinics for more than 50 years till the obstetrics section shut before her death at the age of 76 Other doctors launched movements which ushered in epic changes to the socioreligious milieu of their times Dr Jerusha Jhirad 18901983 a gynaecologist returned in 1925 from medical studies in England and introduced the reformist Jewish Religious Union This democratic congregation facilitates two revolutionary aspects Welcoming women rabbis to the fold besides encouraging women to worship and sing in the synagogue the group also makes accessible translations of Hebrew prayers for community members to better understand their faithEventually realising her ambition to be a reputed physician and obstetrician Jhirad always yearned ldquoto be a doctor take the London MD and be in charge of Cama Hospitalrdquo Those objectives were the result of a story she was told about her elder sisterrsquos serious illness which a Dr Benson at Cama Hospital controlled saving her siblingrsquos life Under her guidance undergraduate and postgraduate training facilities for women medical students were provided and Cama Hospital was affiliated to the GMC as a teaching hospital for women students of obstetrics and gynaecology The outpatient department a pathological laboratory diagnostic Xray department additional quarters for nurses and residents and a hostel for postgraduate students were farreaching extensions carried out during her tenureUnder the aegis of the Indian Research Fund Association formed in 1911 by the Government of India it was the forerunner of the Indian Council of Medical Research Jhirad conducted a statistical enquiry into the causes of maternal deaths in Bombay She consequently recommended urgent improvements in housing slashed food prices education to raise awareness on the need for balanced diets and the organisation of a blood transmission serviceA foundermember of the Federation of Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of India and chairperson of the Maternity and Child Welfare Advisory Committee of the Indian Council of Medical Research Jhirad was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire MBE in 1945 and the Padma Shri by the government of India in 1966There is incidentally the unique presence of three Indian women on Venus Jhirad and Joshi spelt Joshee for outer space are two the third is reformereducationist Pandita Ramabai They proudly name a trio of craters on the solar systemrsquos hottest planet where identified craters acknowledge women across the globe for commendable contributions to their fields They are listed in nomenclature specifically approved by the International Astronomical Union Of the approximately 1000 craters named on Venus the largest known is called Mead after American anthropologist Margaret Mead Remarkable indeed that the three Indian women illuminating the morning star planet were all trailblazers from Bombay tireless in their efforts to convertdreams for a better future into wonderful realityAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacom