MY STORY - 13
MY STORY - 13
DR SHANTILAL J. MEHTA
Once I had a man come to see me in
my Consulting Room. He said: "Sir, my wife is seriously ill." He said
she had been operated for gall bladder at the Breach Candy Hospital but had
developed jaundice after a few days. She was again opened, was in the Operation
Room for five hours but the prospects of her getting well were remote. The surgeon
told him that he will have to take his wife to Boston to DrCathell. The man
said that the expenses for that trip were beyond his capacity. When the man's
wife was taken to Bombay Hospital for yet another operation he decided to find
out whether there was anyone in India who could do a Cathell. He was told that
there was one DrShantilalMetha who had learnt biliary duct repair from
DrCathell, but he was out of town. The surgeon who said this, was not telling
the truth. He and I had been on a joint consultation only three days earlier
and he knew that I was right there in Bombay. Only he did not want me in this
case.
But the
man found out my whereabouts and requested his surgeon to get in touch with me.
I advised the latter to do a Cathell, but the surgeon said he didn't know how.
Would I take over the case? I asked him to send the lady to Harkisondas. The
operation took 71/2"hours. But it was successful. In gratitude, the man
came to my room to pay my fees. "How much do you earn?” I asked him. He was
a lawyer.
"Between Rs 3,000 and Rs
3,500" he said.
"And after income tax, what is
left in your hand?”
"Oh, about Rs 1,800 to Rs 1,900".
"And how much have you spent by
now?”
"About Rs 40,000” replied the
lawyer.
"And where did you get that sum?”
I asked again.
The lawyer said that he had
borrowed the money.
I did not have the heart to charge
this man. I told him: "Go home in peace. I am not going to charge you
anything."
He just fell down, caught hold of
my feet and said: "Sir, I am going to pay. You have saved the mother of my
three daughters”.
Not long after, he became a Judge.
But whenever he meets me, he touches my feet, to my great embarrassment.