जीवन को सार्थक बनाती — धन्वंतरी सेवा यात्रा (उत्तर-पूर्व भारत)
यह बात अनुभव व शोध दोनों से सुस्पष्ट है कि भारत में डाक्टर बनने के पीछे सभी छात्रों में सेवा, समर्पण तथा राष्ट्रभक्ति की भावना रहती है। परन्तु चिकित्सा महाविद्यालयों के वातावरण के कारण ये भावनाएं अंकुरित नहीं हो पाती।
The Beginning
I consider myself fortunate that in the early years of my college — Gauhati Medical College — I had the opportunity to participate in the divine work of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In 2005, a message came that some doctors from Banaras Hindu University and Uttar Pradesh had come to provide medical services in North-East India. Respected Krishna Gopal Ji (currently Sah Sarkaryavah of RSS) inspired our team at Gauhati Medical College. Health is an extremely important subject in North-East India due to widespread poverty.
The Scale of the Yatra
In the past years, 19 yatras have been completed, in which renowned specialists from various fields across the country and abroad, along with senior medical students, have provided free healthcare in numerous districts of North-East India. Through 1,117 free medical camps across 2,708 villages, health services and free medicines have been provided to 1,99,637 men, women and children.
The number of doctors and medical students participating grew every year. Many villages and thousands of lives began to be positively impacted. The local team developed rapidly. How a work that began with 3–5 doctors coming was taking on a massive form — this was both a matter of wonder and learning for me.
Experiences at the Close
An experience-sharing session is organised at the end of each yatra. Doctors and students coming from different parts of the country — Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra — become emotional when sharing their experiences. How our own countrymen are deprived and poor, yet how they have preserved their culture — this touches the heart deeply.
All doctors, in their addresses, expressing the feeling of one culture, one nation, one society and one people, reiterate their resolve to always stand with the North-East.
Impact Beyond North-East
Due to the influence of the Dhanvantari Sewa Yatra, local yatras have now begun operating in 10 states. The Kashmir floods of 2014 gave birth to the Rishi Kashyap Swasthya Sewa Yatra, also inspired by the Dhanvantari Sewa Yatra's success. This yatra too is now running annually in the remote villages of Jammu & Kashmir and Leh-Ladakh.
I appeal to all doctor brothers and sisters of India: do visit North-East India at least once. Having spent nearly a decade in the North-East region (Assam), I have a living, emotional connection with this area. This region, full of immense possibilities, preserves Indian culture in its original form.