Doctors who gave their all

I struggled to push back the lump in my throat. In front of me lay a slim book, behind a glass wall, mounted on a display board. The title, written across its black hardbound cover, now slightly faded and moth-eaten, Fere Naai Shudhu Ekjaan (One Never Came Back), was one my father would sometimes refer to, when he told me the story of Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis. The Indian doctor valiantly and tirelessly tended to wounded soldiers during China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Agression from 1937 to 1945, working himself to death, literally!

Finding the book my father read as a young lad in the 1950s was an emotional moment. But that was only the beginning. Visiting the Martyrs' Memorial Park in Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei, was a lesson in what dedication and selfless service could achieve.

The eastern wing of the expansive Martyrs' Memorial Park will forever be India. Kotnis arrived with a medical mission from India with four other physicians, stayed on, became a Communist Party member, chose the most hazardous assignments, sometimes working 72 hours non-stop. He was so loved by the people of China they dedicated a part of the park to the altruistic doctor and his noble deeds. A tomb, a gallery of photographs and part of a well-appointed museum containing sculptures, graphics, models and memorabilia, ensure that Kotnis' memory lives on.