Do you want to be my Friend?

My Dear children,
I have been planning to write this Letter for quite sometime. Maybe, I ust waited for all
of you to grow up to understand what I am trying to convey. !he story goes bac" many
years. #hen $od sent you to this world, it was perhaps the best thing that could have
happened to your parents. %very little nudge and "ic" in your mother&s womb opened up
a new world of happiness and e'pectations. !hen, one day, a miracle happened. (ou
were to begin a new ourney from the warm, happy, secure world of your mother&s womb
to a world that is cold and full of insecurities. )evertheless, the oy that your parents felt
after this ourney "new no bounds. !hey were on top of the world. *ut unfortunately,
this happiness was short lived. !hat very day you started turning blue in color. !he
doctors had found a hole in your heart which shattered the dreams of your parents. !hey
were devastated and could not understand why they were being punished in this way.
!hey had no choice but to accept the inevitable and decided to give you the best possible
medical care.
*efore that, they had to overcome two maor hurdles. !hey could not afford the cost of
your heart operation and they could not wait since you were turning blue every time you
cried. I guess this is a penalty you have to pay for being born in a third world country.
(es, when you were ten days old you had a price tag on your life. If your parents paid
the price, they could have you, if not you would have to go bac" to where you came
from. (our mummy and daddy went through phases of self+pity, denial, mutual
accusations and anger towards the society which was indifferent to their problems. (our
daddy was upset since he "new that the price tag on your life was less than what his boss
would spend on a ,aturday evening party. *ut that is life and one has to accept it. !ime
was running out and your daddy was getting desperate until he came to "now about me.
!he first thing he told me when we met was -I heard you love children.. (es, I love
children and I have four of my own. My profession is giving hope to those suffering
from heart diseases and giving them a chance to start life in a fresh new way. I am
essentially a technician who can cut and stitch people&s hearts/ they call me a heart
surgeon.
#hen I met you first, you were barely 01 days old, cuddled in a warm blan"et close to
your mother&s heart. %'cept for a bit of rapid breathing and bluish nails on you finger,
you loo"ed li"e an angel. I am sure you cannot remember, but I as"ed you a question
-Do you want to be my friend?.. !his is the question I as" all the children I see. I did
want to be your friend and I wor"ed so hard to gain your friendship. I clearly remember
you mother&s face when she was handing you over to the operation theater nurse. ,he
"issed you and loo"ed at my face with an e'pression that she is handing over her most
precious possession to me, also with the total confidence that I will ta"e care of you.
It was a different sort of love triangle between your father, mother and myself, with you
at the center. #e would have done anything in this world to get you bac". It too" me 2
hours of intense concentration to operate upon you heart and so many sleepless nights
before you started smiling again. $od was "ind to you that time and you made a
marvelous recovery. It was a big day for your family when you were being discharged
from the hospital. *oth you mummy and daddy would have than"ed me a million times
before they left the hospital. *ut you were blissfully unaware of what was going on and
you were happily clinging on to your mother&s chest. My eyes began to swell with tears
and I turned my face the other way, since a cardiac surgeon is not supposed to cry.
!hrough the corner of my wet eyes, I saw your face one more time and I "new, I had
found one more friend. (our friendship and love is the only feel e'pect for treating you.
3s a heart surgeon, I have performed more than 4111 operations on children li"e you
suffering from heart disease. Most of them came from poor families. Despite their
bac"grounds, I treat all for free. I thin" this is the best way I can repay $od who has
given me everything I wanted, a good family, a wonderful wife and loving children. For
me this world is such a happy place to live in and in my own small way, I strive to ma"e
it happy for others around me who are not so fortunate.
(ou must be wondering what inspired me to ta"e this path. I guess, I became a doctor
because of the recurrent illnesses of my parents. My childhood was spent with the fear of
losing my mother. My father, who was a diabetic had multiple episodes of diabetic
come. In the lives of the nine of us, $od was a distant image and his clear image was that
of a Doctor who could save the lives of our parents.
3nother childhood incident left a lasting impression on my young mind. I remember, it
was a ,aturday afternoon. I was trying to build a car, I thin" out of match bo'es and
stic"s, li"e all the other children in my village while, my mother was spea"ing to a distant
relative of ours in Mumbai. !his lady was telling my mother about a particular surgeon
who apart from saving her child&s life also offered his service completely free of cost. I
could hear my mother blessing the mother of that surgeon for giving birth to such a
wonderful person and ended up saying that this world is still a wonderful place because
of people li"e him.
!hat was the time I found the purpose for my life, the purpose of bringing happiness to ll
the children of this world. I was luc"y to be in the right place at the right time. I was
trained to be a heart surgeon at $uy&s 5ospital, London. My colleagues there called me
an -6perating Machine.. ,ince I loved heart surgery.
I left %ngland in 0787 to start+of+the+art heart hospital called *.M. *irla 5eart 9esearch
:entre at :alcutta. It was a great e'perience to set up a heart hospital which soon
became one of the best heart hospitals in India. 3nd almost immediately after we set up
the research center, we started the paediatric cardiac surgical facilities to ta"e care of
children suffering from heart diseases. Little did I "now that this center was to rewrite
medical history. My mother at that time was living in a small town near Mangalore. It
was my father&s death anniversary and she spent almost the entire day in the prayer room.
In the evening my sister who was watching the news on the national networ" all of a
sudden screamed out for my mother. My mother hurried to the living room to see her son
on !;, with a nine day old baby who underwent a successful open+heart surgery. 5e was
the youngest baby at that point of time in India to undergo this procedure. It was the
beginning of heart surgery on newborn babies in India. I guess at that time, many
mothers would have prayed for my mother&s well being too.
Let me tell you about another incident. Do you "now the definition of a paediatric
cardiac surgeon? !he dictionary says he is a surgeon who speciali<es in the treatment of
heart ailments in children. 3 few years ago, when Mother !eresa suffered a heart attac",
I was put in charge of her heart care. 6ne day, Mother, who at that point of time was
convalescing in the intensive care unit of the hospital, saw me e'amining a blue baby.
3fter few minutes of thought, she turned towards me and said, -)ow I "now why you are
here. !o relieve the agony of children with heart disease. $od send you to this world to
fi' it.. !o my mind , this is the best definition ever given of a paediatric cardiac surgeon
and perhaps the best compliment that I have ever received.
6ne day you will become an adult and probably a very important member of our society.
(ou will have lot of responsibilities and commitments. 3ll I as" of you for is, can you
spare a few moments of your precious time every day for someone who needs it and that
too without e'pecting anything bac" in return. Did you "now that to save your life, a few
hundred people wor"ed sincerely without e'pecting any remuneration other than the oy
of ma"ing your family, friends and relatives happy?
Dear children, we are all created by $od and 5e is in control of all the events happening
in this world. =nfortunately, he is not supposed to be seen, heard or felt. ,o, he runs his
world using people li"e you and me. 3nd when you do your wor" without e'pecting
anything in return, ust for the oy of bringing happiness to others, that&s when you&ll
reali<e it is not your hands which do the ob, it is the 5ands of $od.
$od *less.
Dr. Devi ,hetty
3pril 077>, *angalore