Slave Dynasty in
Medical Profession
People
must have heard about the slave dynasty that ruled Delhi Sultanate during
medieval ages. But here I am going to tell you about a clinic, whose ownership
was passed from master to servant and not from father to son or some legal
inheritor like nephew. This clinic, whose story is being narrated here, was
situated in a medium sized town Moga. The initial owner of this clinic, who
founded it, was Kartar Singh, who was quack who had learnt a few remedies from
a sage during his youth. The clinic was opened in a rented shop owned by a
temple trust Shiwala-Soodan. Dr. Kartar Singh, as he was popularly known, was a
specialist in brewing wine, and his business flourished by selling the remains
after brewing wine in the name of a tonic Lohaasav whose benefit according to
him was assured birth of a son. Another talent that Dr. Kartar Singh had was
his ability to find out the amount of money carried by a patient in his pocket
and in taking out the amount from pocket of the patient. He would match the
amount of the remedy and medicines so well that patient was compelled to empty
his pocket. Then he would magnanimously gave back the amount of fare back to
the patient so that patient may reach his village and it also assured that the
patient will come back to the shop again even if to pay back the money he owed
to Kartar Singh.
He
spent his life luxuriously and married a lady named Gurnam Kaur belonging to
Jalandhar district of the Doaba region of Punjab. She was sufficiently
intelligent to learn the intricacies of this trade from Dr. Kartar Singh,
though she was already married and even had children from her first husband.
Perhaps she visited him initially as a patient and then she started living with
him . After the passing away of Dr. Kartar Singh, Gurnam Kaur took over the
shop and continued this flourishing trade. One day a man came in her life whose
name was Shamsher Singh Jwandha. Perhaps he also visited her as a patient in
the beginning and then started living Gurnam Kaur and contributing his bit and
learning the secrets of this medicine trade. Slowly but steadily he gathered
complete control over the shop and then she ousted Gurnam Kaur from this
clinic. She returned back to her family and village. As he had learnt the
secrets of trade so he also did not much object to the decision of Gurnam Kaur
to leave back and go back to her village.
Dr. Shamsher Singh always carried
a gun whenever he went outside Moga. Dr. Shamsher Singh introduced innovation
in curative system of the clinic by incorporating allopathic medical
procedures, under the mask of Ayurvedic medicines though he continued
practicing Ayurvedic medicines too. He even gave pain killing injections and
antibiotics to give quick relief to the patients. Normally after asking the
patients about the symptoms of malady and after examining the patient he used
to tell them to either wait for some time or to go to market for shopping as it
will take some time prepare the medicine. After that he would come to the
posterior portion of the shop and handing some money to his son asked him to go
and get some aspirin tablets from the nearest chemist. Then he used to take
them out of the wrapper and crush them into powder and pack them into small
paper packets (Pudiyas) in three or four doses and hand back to the patient with
precautions and instructions. So Shamsher Singh became complete inheritor of
this clinic in word and spirit after Gurnam Kaur. He would have continued to be
the sole master of this clinic throughout his life but another lady came in his
life. This lady , named Gurmail Kaur was married to a man, who was a shepherd
in the next village to Moga. Her husband passed away leaving two sons to her.
She also came to the clinic first as a patient and then started living there
bringing her two sons also along with her and started learning this trade as
well as looking after the household of Shamsher Singh. She would have become
the next heir of this clinic but fate prevented it for a number of reasons. The
first reason was that Dr. Shamsher Singh in the last phase of his life decided
to leave the shop and go into retirement in the house that he had constructed
for himself in the outskirts of the town, though he ran clinic there also. And
the second the reason was that Gurmail Kaur left this world earlier than Dr. Shamsher
Singh. And the last reason was that her both sons did not show either talent or
interest in running this clinic so this slave dynasty of medical profession
ended after the death of Dr. Shamsher Singh.
