Dr. Anand - an unholy person born in 1932 in the holy town of Nankana Sahib, central Punjab. A lawyer father, a doctor mother. Peripatetic childhood - almost gypsy style. Many schools. Many friends, ranging from a cobbler's son (poorly shod as the proverb goes) to a judge's son. MB from Glancy (now Government) Medical College Amritsar, 1958. Comet 4 to Heathrow, 1960.
Widower. Two children and their families keep an eye on him. He lives alone in a small house with a small garden. Very fat pigeons, occasional sparrows, finches green and gold drop in to the garden, pick a seed or two and fly away.
Posted: October 2017
IT WAS IN 1958, I think. I had been out-posted from my proper job as a "casualty medical officer" at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. The out-posting was to the dispensary at Sauja village, about ten miles away (actually 18 km.) I was required to be there for the working hours of the dispensary. Then, return home to my quarters in the hospital in the evening.
Every morning I would catch the train to Sauja, and then back to Patiala in the evening.
One day, an emergency delayed me - I missed the train back to Patiala. There would be a very long wait for the next, and last, train.
I started walking along the railway track. It passed over a rivulet which was almost dry. However, the bridge was rather high and I did not relish the thought of falling down if I failed to step on the next railway sleeper. Nor did I relish the thought of being knocked down by a goods train, if it happened to come along.
