“But now, it’s mostly the parents who call me aunty and they usually make their children call me Dr Muwa or Dr Ama,” says Dr Neelam with a smile that reaches her eyes and gives it a mischievous glint.[break]
Working as a pediatrician in Nepal since 1979, it’s no surprise that Dr Neelam is addressed as Dr Ama; rather it’s only a subtle confirmation of her long-term service and dedication to the medical field. Standing strong even after 34 years of medical career, Dr Neelam has come a long way, as success is hardly, if ever, earned easily.
Inside her cabin at Norvic International Hospital, she welcomes her patrons with a trademark warm smile that many, by now, have come to associate with her. Now, living a semi-retired life, she’s still the same humble and cheerful lady, establishing that age has nothing to do with high spirits.
Bijay Ra
Born in Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, India, Dr Neelam recalls her hometown as a small city while growing up. Eldest among five sisters, she describes her father as a simple businessman while her mother was a homemaker.
“Both of them weren’t highly educated but they encouraged all of us to acquire good education,” she reminisces.
After studying at a government school till the 12th grade, she then moved to Delhi to study MBBS at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). With MBBS and MD in pediatrics, and then three years of working experience, AIIMS was home for 11 years. It was also the place where she met her future husband.
Dr Ramesh Adhikari had also been studying pediatrics at AIIMS and after four years of courtship, they decided to get married. “Fortunately, we didn’t have to go through any family complications when we were getting married,” says Dr Neelam.
“I was more close to the North Indian culture, which is very similar to that of Nepal. The food is also very similar. There weren’t any adjustment issues as such,” she adds.
But as easy as she might make it sound, getting married at those times certainly required a lot of adjustment; especially when you would eventually end up living in a different country. Apart from the changes in personal life, she had to adapt to the changes in her professional life too.
At those times, one had to be married to a Nepali for at least five years to obtain a Nepali citizenship. This condition limited Dr Neelam’s choices. “As Shanta Bhawan hospital, at that time, was a missionary hospital, they didn’t look for citizenship like other institutions,” she says.
Thus a month after her marriage, she started working at Shanta Bhawan Hospital (later renamed Patan Hospital) in Kathmandu. She reminisces that when she started her career in Nepal, there were very few pediatricians around. After just a few years of practice, she quickly went on to become one of the most sought after pediatricians in the capital. In 1988, she even started private practice at Kathmandu Hospital, Tripureshwor.
When she discusses her work, she seems more at ease and at the same time a look of determination washes across her face and you get a glimpse of the strong lady she actually is. It seems that she’s able to handle every change in her life with a simplified outlook due to her dedication to work. For instance, she learned Nepali language memorizing the specific phrases she needed to communicate with her patients.
“My sister-in-law used to write down those phrases for me. With her help, I learned the language,” she says though quickly admitting that her learning pattern never let her acquire flawlessness in Nepali. But it has been sufficient to communicate well with patients, many of whom found her thickly accented speech fascinating.
No matter how much she delved into work, she was also alert about her personal life. Married to another doctor, both of them knew that the work pressures and odd hours would not make their lives easy.
“One thing that we had decided was that we weren’t going to work at the same hospital,” she says clarifying that choosing the same workplace would have made having holidays on the same day rare and difficult.
Though they had planned to spare time for family, their individual work pressures always occupied them. But being married to another doctor, she says, has its own positive sides. “First, my husband was a thorough gentleman besides being very understanding. And second, being a doctor himself, he could relate to the work environment,” she says.
She adds that, looking back now, she’s very grateful to her husband for understanding her when she had no time for parties or other social gatherings. And though Dr Neelam is more of a clinical pediatrician and Dr Ramesh is more involved with academics, she says that, they could also discuss certain diseases and cases and give each other advice. “We never had any ego clashes or issues over work,” she adds.
Being in charge of the pediatric department after just six months of her work at Shanta Bhawan Hospital and retiring from Patan Academy of health sciences as a rector, Dr Neelam’s love for her profession emerges from her love of children.
“Every day at work has been very interesting. It’s a pleasure to be working with children because they’re very hopeful,” she says.
Her voice has certain gravity to it when she talks about her little patients. She rattles off numbers and data as well as recalls individual cases and names of her young patients. It’s not hard to see that Dr Neelam’s love for her work and profession comes from the involvement of both heart and mind.
But having closely witnessed the development of medical sector in Nepal, she’s a little concerned that new doctors have somewhat been mass produced in the recent times.
“When we studied medicine, we either had scholarship or the fees weren’t as high as it is these days. Now, since it’s so hard to finance medical education, it seems that for many new doctors, making money precedes serving people,” she says.
But she’s clear about her philosophy; a doctor, by profession, is a people’s person. She believes that being a doctor is different than being in other professions as it comes with a great responsibility. You’re in charge of good health and long lives of patients. And for the very reason, even after semi-retiring, she still keeps herself updated on the new developments and current trends in the health sector.
“It’s disheartening to see doctors running after money. It is credibility every doctor should yearn for,” says Dr Neelam.
She proved she’s among the very few people who walk the talk when she returned to fulfill her duties as a doctor even after retirement. “When people are dependent upon me, it’s my duty to serve them as long as I’m able to do so,” she says with the same reaffirming smile adding, “It’s what I do best, it’s my forte.”
It’s no surprise that Dr Aunty or more recently Dr Muwa, still has quite a number of patients to attend to. Perhaps that’s because she lives on the minds of her former patients as a part of their fond childhood memory when hospital visits seemed less daunting simply because you knew she’d be there behind the closed door.
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