MADHAVPUR (Howrah): His life revolves around two M's mail and medicine. On one side of the village post office is his chamber' where he treats' patients, and the on other side of the dingy premises, he is seen busy sorting mail and receiving the villagers' small savings deposits.
Welcome to Madhavpur, barely 15 km from Uluberia, where 52-year-old Parbati Kumar Charui, the postmaster of this Howrah village for 23 years, doubles up as the lone doctor'. Even a wooden partition has been placed in the post office to demarcate the chamber. The lone physician' even makes time from his busy schedule to visit more serious patients at their homes if he gets a call.
Charui pursues his official profession and his passion for treating' the ailing with equal ease during his 12-hour working day, shuttling as he does between either partition at different times of the day. Beginning his day at 9 am, Charui opens the post office to sort mail that he hands over to his lone postman for delivery. He also attends to clients who have small savings.
At noon, Charui takes a break from what remains of the post office work and shifts across the partition to don the robes of a doctor'. For the next two hours, till 2 pm, he attends to a queue of patients. Then, he is back as postmaster for another three hours, till 5 pm and then, shuttles back to his chamber' where he treats' patients till 9 pm.
Charui has no qualms about his unusual dual role or about using half the post office premises as the chamber'. "Am I at fault?" he asks. "I try to be honest and justify both my postmaster's salary and the paltry fees I accept from my patients. I serve both the ailing and users of the postal system," he argues. In fact, he does not even charge those who are too poor to pay the Rs 10 he accepts as fees' from his patients.
The story of the postmaster-turned- doctor' dates back to 1986. "I had just joined as the postmaster of Madhavpur when a young woman died of abdominal pain before anybody could diagnose her ailment. The very next year, I got an opportunity to get myself trained at a medical camp at Uluberia organised by the Red Cross. Thus began a new chapter in my life," Charui said.
After a year's course in alternative medicine, Charui took practical lessons from renowned doctors working at Uluberia hospitals for two years. Then, he decided to split the post office with a partition and started practising'.
Charui treats patients with cough and cold, fever, anaemia and diarrhoea, among other diseases. He even stores medicines for some common ailments. "I have never failed to attend to patients for a single day till date," he says proudly.
Asserting that he doesn't neglect his postmaster's job, Charui loves speaking about his role as a doctor'. "I keep updating myself every day on the medical science. I have bought a digital instrument to measure blood pressure because that is more accurate," he says.
Needless to say, villagers have no problem with Charui using half the post office for his practise'. "He is the only doctor' in a 10-km radius. If he can take time out of his schedule as a postmaster and treat patients, why should we bother? He even visits patients at their homes whenever he gets a call," says Aroop Mondal, one of the many patients waiting outside Charui's chamber' for his healing touch.
Courtesy : Times of India Kolkatta (15:11.2009)
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