Doctors at
Chelakkara , seventy years back
By
P.R.Ramachander
(One of my chelakkara
friends posted an image of a news item about
the medical treatment problems in
my village , Chelakkara. My mind got in to the time machine and flew back
to the olden times)
MY mind again flew
back to Chelakkara before seventy
years. We had moderate treatment facility
for most of the small
illness in Chelakkara during those times. But if serious illness comes only option was prayer to god . I still remember one mama
telling another, “Avanukku
iraniyaavaam .Trusoorukku
eduthundu POyirukka , Ambada thaan”( He is suffering from Hiranya
and has been taken to TRichur .His
chances of coming back or slim). I also
remember the small pox epidemics that used to sweep the village
once in a while causing death
of large number of people . WE had two
important doctors practising allopathy
during those times and a few practising Ayurveda , I do not remember any one practicing homeopathy. Later days , a dentist used come in
the evenings and practice in Chelakkara.
Dr,Antoni(Anthoni
in our Malayalam drenched voice) was
only an LMP .It is not an exaggeration to say
that more than 70% people of
Chelakkara of those days got
cured of their illness due to him. He knew each and every Brahmin, their wives and their children by name. WE were all
generally poor and so, that kind
doctor used to have credit
account for each of the families.He used to
give some tablets and a very
bitter mixture(containing lot of Epsom salt)
for almost all the illnesses. If people
were seriously ill , he used to prescribe them medicines, help them
purchase it through some bus drivers known to him from Trichur. I remember that if
the family did not have money to buy
the medicine, he used to buy it and enter it in their loan account. My
mother was very ill during those days
and we children were sent to him almost daily. He used to receive
us
with a smiling face , enquire about our welfare, console us , give the needed medicines
after entering in the
families loan account .(These loans were
repaid after we received Paddy after harvest , twice in a year) If there was an emergency he used to rush with
great speed to that house
in a jiffy. I remember a person drinking Kesrosine oil at night by mistake that the great doctor rushing to his house at midnight. The village during those days were not electrified and
as soon as it become 7 PM , all
lights used to be put out . In spite of
such a tough situation the great doctor
used to help us all. Due to our very
frequent visits, His wife Meriamma
was also friendly with us . In
these seventy years , I have not seen a
greater , nobler and more efficient doctor than him.
WE had one more
doctor called DR.Madhava Menon whose house was adjoining the
Brahmin Agrahara. I vaguely remember
that he was an M.B.B.S
and his charges were
slightly more than DR.Anthony .Apart
from that it seems he used to get angry on patients , if they do not obey him.Since he was very near Kizhakke Madam of the Gramam , Some people
there used to consult him. Even slightly
rich people used to prefer him.Since I had never gone to him for
treatment I do not know whether he kept loan account.
There also used to
be a Sarkar AAsupathri(Government hospital) those days
just outside the village In MOhari Kunnu but Brahmins rarely visited the hospital.I understand it has now grown up
in to a much bigger hospital.
Vaidyan Krishnan was one among us Brahmins and used to have a very big Ayurvedic shop in Angadi I
undersatand his father Narasimha Mama who
was also a Vaidyan migrated to Chelakkara from a
near by village . Since our home was
very near to his huse , we used to go and Consult his father often .In the ayurvedic Pharmacy , some Asavams, Arishtams , lehyam and medicinal oils were stocked. Since they believed
in drinking Kashayam(Decoction)
during those days Vaidyan
Krishnan used to write a detailed
note of the fruits, roots, leaves
etc required to prepare the Kashayam
and used to give us also the materials. Our parents used to prepare the Kashayam
and made us drink it, though most
of the Kashayams were very bitter and
had a aweful aroma
WE also used to have
another Ayurvedic doctor in the village
. I vaguely remember his name was Madhava Varriar. He was the poor man’s ayurvedic doctor of the
village, I remember my father consulting him rather than Vaidyan Krishnan.
There
was also an immensely popular
vertinary doctor in the village .
Since for several miles together there was
no other vertinary doctor , he
was always very busy. He had a younger brother who was
a doctor in Indian military during those
days. When I was about 15, he
retired and settled down in a nearby village . I do not know his real name
but my father used
to call him Katti . My
father in law Dr.Vaidyanathan it seems
practiced for a few days in the village and because
people used to call him at odd hours , he discontinued that practice and
joined the Tamil Nadu health
department .
One of the boys
younger to me called Venkidi , belonging
to Puthan Madam studied medicine and
some how never came to practice
in the village .Dr.Krishnan Kutti
who belonged to the village(again
younger to me) is a famous doctor in Trichur.
Since I have lost
touch with my own village , I do not know whether any body else from the village became a doctor.
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