TO TALK OF MANY THINGS: from Science of Happiness to Art of Medicine:
Author: Dr. L K Kothari, Editors: Dr. Bela Kothari and Dr. Aalok Pandya,
Publisher:
Not given, Pp.:235, Price: Rs. 450/= (Paperback edition), Language: English,
First Edition: January 2022, ISBN; Not given, (Hardback edition is also
available)
The life of every human being is different. We all try to leave no
stones unturned to make our life best possible, even then some shortcomings do
remain. We have inadequate knowledge and control. Destiny also plays an
important role. For making the life of other family members better, they should
take lessons from the life of the elders and this should continue in the family.
Normally a highly versatile and accomplished person will be in the very senior
age level. First of all he is expected to have served a large organization for many
years. Because of his long experience in his field, his contacts will be with many
persons in various fields. Even after normal retirement, such persons do not
retire from life, but get retyred, for another innings in some other
field. Here also there will be several
achievements and personal contacts.
Therefore such a person will have many old memories to bring to light and
to share and tell. These may not necessarily be technical things or just
anecdotes but something useful for everybody. With this objective, the author has
ventured to bring out this excellent book as a treasure house of information,
knowledge, memories and what not, but everything has been communicated in a
humourous manner. Broadly, an important portion of the book is devoted to the
life in SMS Medical College, Jaipur during graduation and subsequent years of
service of the Government of Rajasthan. But it also deals with some important
points like learning human values, helping other human beings, status of health
care at present and ways to find and remain happy in life.
After providing of the initial information about the publishing
parameters and Acknowledgement, the book presents systematically organized Contents,
followed by Introduction. The book has been presented in five parts: Part A:
Learning beyond the classroom, having 8 Chapters, Part B: Those wonderful days
in SMS, having 7 Chapters, Part C: Medicine: The Science, The Art, The
Vocation, having 6 Chapters, Part D: Happiness:
Count-Your-Blessings and be Happy, having 6 Chapters, Part E: And now some fun
and more, having 2 Chapters. In these five parts, there are in all 29 Chapters.
Towards the end of the book, References and About the Author have been
provided. In part A, Chapter 3, Remembering Father and my childhood days in
Delhi, is the most important Chapter. Author’s father, Late Dr. D S Kothari, was
a world famous Physicist. Being a Science student with Physics as my favourite
subject too, I had learnt a lot about his achievements. Because of his
excellence, he contributed substantially as a Professor of Physics, Chairman
U.G.C., and also as Scientific Advisor for Defence. In this Chapter the author vividly
describes his father’s activities, qualities and contributions from the
beginning, having seen him from close quarters.
In part B, Chapter 13, SMS-its Past, Present and Future, is the most important
Chapter. As a student and a Doctor attached emotionally to this great
institution, Dr. L K Kothari provides names and details of the activities of
many eminent Doctors, their love for teaching, research and philanthropic works
in treating poor patients even after the normal duty hours. After reading it,
one feels that only the tip of the iceberg has been touched and the narration could
have been much more. In Part C, the learned author has discussed various
aspects of medicine as a Science, Doctor-patient relationship etc. Chapter 18,
Man, Medicine and Morality is the most important Chapter. It is well known that
a Doctor has to treat and cure a patient. But now a more important point of
morality has come in, because of some doubtful and inappropriate actions of
some Doctors and Health organizations in the past. In Part D, two topics have been
dealt with viz. those of Happiness and Yogic claim of control on the heart.
Chapter 22, Exploring the mystery of Happiness is the most relevant for all of
us. It attempts to provide the ways we
can gain Happiness. As a Doctor, the author provides prescriptions for Happiness
as Count-your-blessings, wealth, physical exercise, meditation and yoga,
hobbies, medicines. In Part E, both the Chapters provide some fun, in the sense
one is the account of proceedings of Convocation of a University and the other
presents a 3-Act play “The Honorary House-Surgeon”.
The book provides relevant information, description, personal anecdotes
and details of experience on the various topics accurately. About the book has
been provided on the back cover page. Important words, sentences, paragraphs
have been printed in bold letters. It is pleasing to read the book.
The
language is easy to understand. Printing is excellent. The paper used for the
book is of excellent quality. The
book has in all 12 appropriate photos in black and white. Also there are brief citations
at the start of 13 Chapters and brief footnotes at the end of 4 Chapters. Number
of pages in the Chapters; vary from 1 to 15. The cover page of the book has an impressive
photo of the author. The Cover design is
simple, but appealing.
The readers can find several useful
points for their own life, from this book. One important piece of learning is
that if the mother alone (or the father alone) wants, she or he can educate the
children, in spite of lack of adequate resources like money and education in
the family. These children can also reach high levels in their life, based on guidance
and hard work. If all the members of the family remain together in a joint
family, then we can learn a lot from our elders and each other. A joint family
is much stronger and helpful for all. There is a lot to learn about how to live
life successfully and happily even in unfavourable situations with our
appropriate attitude. For the younger
persons beginning their career and also for those engaged in midst of their
different professions, especially the medical profession, this book gives
essential points to help them to better achieve their objectives. The book
certainly bears the stamp of excellence of Dr. L K Kothari. Considering in an
overall way, this book provides useful information and guidelines for the
benefit of the persons at all age levels, especially those at the beginning of
their career. It is an excellent and interesting book which will be helpful and
useful to all, in their journey towards excellence. A must read book.
----------Reviewer:
vijaiksharma
