1. Nursing A Dream
Not only the manual worker built a hospital but also made her
younger son a doctor
By Sahana Ghosh, Kolkata 12 May 2013
Subhasini Mistry toiled for years as a
manual labourer, a housemaid and a
vegetable-seller. At 70, she can look back
with satisfaction at a two-storeyed,
whitewashed building, the realisation of
her dream to build a hospital for the poor
- all because she couldn't afford proper
medical treatment for her husband and
became a widow at 23.
Her younger son Ajoy is a doctor at the
hospital which has 12 doctors and over 25 beds and runs on donations.
Mistry was grief-stricken after her husband died, but she resolved to build a hospital for the
needy so that others would not have to suffer the same fate as her husband. What followed
was a life of abject poverty and extreme physical labour as the mother of four soldiered on
with the single-minded pursuit of setting up the hospital.
Over time, she managed to save
enough to buy a one-bigha (one-third
of an acre) plot.
Now 47 years down the line,
Humanity Hospital, in Hanspukur
village near Kolkata, stands tall and
proud, serving the poor free of cost
since 1996, a testimony to a single
woman's grit, determination and
never-say-die spirit against all
possible odds.
As Mistry, a pygmy of a woman in
girth but an extraordinary woman in
deed, looks back at her past, and says
in a firm voice: "This is all I could do
on my own. I don't regret that I had to
put two of my children in an
orphanage, that I couldn't educate Poor Widow's gift to society - Humanity Hospital (Photo: IANS)

2. them. There were things needed to be done for the greater good."
Mistry said: "When my husband passed away, I was in shock initially. Then I realised I had
four hungry mouths to feed. My oldest child, a son, was four-and-a-half-years old at the time.
My youngest, a daughter, was one-and-a-half.
"I had no education and couldn't even tell the time. So I decided I would do whatever work
that was available. I started out as an aayah (domestic help) in the nearby houses."
During that period, she made a silent promise to herself: she would set up a hospital for the
needy that would provide treatment free of cost.
Gradually she realised that house work alone would not suffice; so she took to brick-laying
and other physically demanding chores to supplement her meagre income. Her two sons
would lend a hand at work. Early on, she had made up her mind that come what may, she
would educate one of her sons to be a doctor.
Now the younger son Ajoy, a doctor, carries on her mother's mission at the hospital.
"I did everything. My children used to earn Re.1 while I used to get Rs.1.25. I never spent on
myself. Whatever I earned, I saved most of it for the hospital.
"Some of my earnings were spent on educating my younger son and daughter. Unfortunately
the other two I had to send to an orphanage," Mistry said.
She put aside the majority of what she earned and after around 30 years of scrimping and
saving, she had collected enough to buy a plot of land.
"One of the babus (landlords) was selling off his land. I went to him and fell at his feet to let
me buy the plot for a lesser amount.
He relented and finally a part of my dream came true," said Mistry.
In 1993, the Humanity Trust was formed
and a temporary clinic was set up with the
combined effort of all the residents.
"I went about asking them to contribute in
any way they could. Some donated money,
some wood, some gave the material needed
for construction while some volunteered for
construction work," said Mistry.
Bit by bit, a one-room clinic came into
being. And at Mistry's behest three doctors
from nearby areas started treating the sick
free of cost.

3. In 1996, a permanent building was inaugurated by then West Bengal governor
K.V.Raghunath Reddy.
Since then Mistry and her small staff, which includes one of her daughters, has never looked
back. In 2009, she won the prestigious Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award in the mind-of-steel
category.
According to Mistry, a lot of things remain to be done which have hit a pause due to a
financial crunch.
"Our main problem is shortage of doctors.
They are only available on specific dates.
Since we do not pay them, they are less
inclined to visit regularly.
"Due to lack of funds, the ICU is yet to be
completed. I wish I could somehow get the
finance to see these things through," said
Mistry, who presides over urgent matters
every day.
Despite the tough road ahead, Mistry
refuses to be bogged down.
"My wish will be fulfilled entirely when doctors and nurses are available round the clock and
when we can provide all the services of a modern hospital," she said. – IANS.