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| Dr. Dhananjay Sudhakar Sukhdev, Vivekananda Medical Mission, Muttil, near Kalpetta, Wayanad |
Three-and-a-half decades ago, a medical graduate from a well-to-do Nagpur family decided to make the adivasis of Wayanad the potential clientele of his services for the rest of his life. There was only one reason for that decision taken by Dr. Dhananjay Sudhakar Sukhdev then: opportunity to help people who are likely to find treatment unaffordable or unapproachable. “From the beginning it was my desire to work in a place where treatment was difficult to obtain. And studying about the health parameters of scheduled tribes, I decided to spend my time among them. I had heard of the adivasis of Wayanad and the Vivekananda Trust", he reminisces.
Poor adivasis were his first patients. He realized that poverty – and consequent malnutrition – was a major factor in the health of these people. It was because of Sukhdev's insistence also, that the Trust formulated programmes for the social and economic upliftment of these adivasis.
When he reached the hospital in 1980, there were only meager facilities there. Soon it started welcoming inpatients too. It now is a 36-bed hospital offering free treatment to the adivasis. And there are now 3 full time doctors – including Sukhdev.
It was Sukhdev who discovered the sickle-cell anemia among the local population. In collaboration with AIIMS, New Delhi, he formulated measures to tackle the disease. The expert team conducted studies among the affected population and forbade marriage among carriers of the disease germs. By this and other efforts, the spread of disease has been contained to a large extent.
He lives in a modest quarters adjacent to the hospital. Sujatha, from a Marathi family settled in Kozhikode is his wife.
To the question why he did not desire to work for a higher salary in his hometown, sukhdev’s first response was a sweet smile. After some time he added, “man’s dharma is not only to make money and enjoy things. One must be able to help fellow men and do good to the world we are born in.”
Courtesy: K.Viswanath (text), S.L.Anand (photo), Mathrubhumi Weekend, June 7, 2015
