We were moved by Dr. Rani Bang’s wisdom and spirit of generosity as she shared stories from her life during the call. The talk was moderated by Nisha Srinivasan and Dr. Sriram Shamasunder.
Rani started by sharing that it doesn’t matter that one is a Gandhian or not. We are all human beings, and what matters most is being human. Being humane in our behavior in the world is the greatest quality. Below are some nuggets from the conversation --
Early influences - I was born in an affluent family. We had many servants in the house, but my mother would always insist that we should be used to doing household chores ourselves. I learned how to fetch water from the river, wash clothes, clean utensils, prepare cow dung cakes, etc. We saw dignity in all forms of labour and learned to see everyone as equal. Looking back, it feels like destiny now, as I married Abhay and came to a village that had no electricity, no cooking gas, tap water, so I had to do all those things again after marriage.
My mother used to stitch good clothes for me. On the other hand, most of my friends were so poor, and they would wear torn clothes. So I would also take a pair of scissors and cut my clothes. However, my mother was very understanding, and she would never scold me.
My father always told us that since we are privileged, our hands should always be a giving hand, palm facing down. And, it should never open palm facing up, below another hand to receive. When I decided to marry Abhay and get into social work, he told me something I will never forget. He said that now my hand should always be giving, but giving with palm facing up, placed below the receiver’s hand. I have many gifts to offer, and I should offer them all to the community and let the people choose what they wish to take. I learned to practice generosity from a place of humility and gratitude, seeing the receiver not as someone lower than me but placing them higher than me. He also taught us that our abundance of wealth means God trusts us and has entrusted this to us so that we can share it with others who have less. It’s not for our own enjoyment but for society. We were taught not to give leftovers to the poor but to give the best of what we have to others.
Work as its own reward -- I also learned from my father to offer deep attention to the smallest of tasks in front of me, from a spirit of service. He told me that when you write a prescription for a patient, write it in a lot of detail so that they can refer to it later also, or refer it to other doctors easily if they wish. So I used to do that religiously. Even in medical college, the professors laughed at this habit of mine and told me not to “waste time” over this. Soon after, when I returned to India, the Bhopal gas tragedy happened, and I was one of the first doctors to reach there. I wrote detailed observations about all the patients I saw, and *all* my patients got full compensation from Supreme Court for the injuries they suffered. Doctors from all parts of the world were serving there, but their prescriptions simply didn’t have enough context, so sadly, none of those people got any compensation.
Research for the people -
When I met the rural women, I saw that they have so many gynecological problems (menstrual problems, reproductive tract infections, infertility, sexual problems, etc.). Still, unfortunately, the national health schemes were not paying attention to those at all due to a lack of grassroots understanding and intent. I talked to 100 women leaders across villages, asking them to enumerate the key health concerns of the women. All of them said that white discharge was their number one concern.
I immediately felt like doing more research on this. I spoke to many doctors, policymakers, etc., about this, but no one took this seriously. They thought it was innocuous, just like nasal discharge, and advised me not to waste my time on this. However, the women were telling me this was important, so it was important for me too.
Also, we gave a list of the most common diseases to the women and asked them to rank them by seriousness. The women ranked obstructed labour and infertility as the two most serious diseases. In obstructed labour, there is a risk that the patient might die, but there is no such risk in case of infertility. So we were surprised why they picked infertility as highly serious. I was struck by their response, “Madam, in case of obstructed labor, the woman dies only once in a lifetime. But if she has infertility, she dies daily. This society does not allow her to survive.”
I also learned a word for an infertile woman in the local language, “vanzhoti” - a woman whose lap is empty, but there is no word as “vanzhota” for the man. Everyone blames the woman. This was not just a medical issue but a social issue.
So I was convinced that we needed to work in this direction. I ran a computerized search in the National Library of Medicine in the USA, which is the most extensive library in the world; there was not a single study on gynecological morbidities at the community level. So that was our first community-based study of gynecological problems, the first of its kind in the world. Later on, it was published in Lancet, the most reputed medical journal, and labeled “study of the decade.” We also brought much attention to providing easy access to abortion services and adolescent sexual health education. In many ways, this study was a milestone in changing the global policy towards women’s health. We found that 92% of women in rural areas faced some gynecological problems, but very little was being done for them. Nearly 50% of the women had reproductive tract infections, and white discharge was a symptom of that only. So what the women were telling me was absolutely true. White discharge was the Special divisions for women’s reproductive health were created in ICMR and WHO after this.
Cultivating empathy and beginner’s mind as doctors -- Once a patient came to me, I asked her about her problem. She wouldn’t say anything but just kept pointing her index and middle finger down. I asked her many times, “what is your problem” but she just kept on repeating that. As doctors, we face so many cases like this of a patient not expressing them, and we lose patience and start judging them and scolding them. If I had done that, she would have left my cabin with her problem unsolved and would have lost faith in modern medicine. She was trying to convey something. Speaking is only one form of language. From the rural women, I have learned that there are many other forms of language. In their local sign language, she was trying to tell me that her uterus prolapses out (which requires urgent surgical treatment). They feel indecent saying it out loud. So to help others, it’s critical to connect with people and tune into their cultural context.
Appreciating everyone’s intelligence -- To do great work collectively, we have to respect others and have a friendly relationship with everyone as equals. Initially, maybe I was a good gynecologist, but the illiterate rural women have been my most amazing teachers in becoming a better professional and human being. For example, when I was training them, I asked them -- why don’t you also teach me something. Since I was interested in trees and forests, I asked them to tell them about the trees in that area -- their medicinal uses, economic uses, etc. They started sharing their knowledge about the trees, and I realized they have a special relationship with the nature around them. Over the next two years, I saw that the women had a wonderful and sacred relationship with all the trees. They shared so many stories and songs with me. And it has a direct environmental impact as those trees are never to be cut. So just for my own interest, I documented these stories, and it was later published as a book “Goin” (meaning “friend” in Marathi). The book received Maharashtra’s highest literary award. I am not a botanist or anthropologist. This was not my achievement; it was the knowledge of those rural illiterate women.
Education doesn’t mean Wisdom -- We feel that people are illiterate, but they are far more civilized. They have their traditional wisdom, which we can learn from them. We call them ignorant, but when I look at their culture, there is no theft in tribal villages. Nobody locks the huts. There is no atrocity on women. There won't be any rape or legal exploitation of women in tribal culture. There is no system of dowry in tribal culture. On the contrary, the girl has to be given dowry by the boys' side. You won't find a beggar in tribal culture. There is a system of community decision-making in tribal culture. Now tell me, who is more civilized?
Imparting values to children -- We didn’t provide any special favours to our children. We didn’t admit them to special schools and wanted them to experience a life that we were living, that all the children on our campus were living. We didn’t impose our values on them. They organically embraced these values. They used to come to the hospital and assist us in work. They even joined our satyagraha for the anti-alcohol movement in the district. We went to jail for a day, and they were right there - with us. Many of our friends say that they have an intention to move to rural areas, but they're worried about their children's education. I think that degrees are important, and we shouldn’t dismiss that, but much more important is values. Is it only for earning more and more? Is it only for thinking about myself and my family? What about the society?
Swadharma and Vishwadharma - Vinoba ji often spoke about this. One must find their swadharma, i.e., your individual calling or unique purpose, and serve that. You need not move to rural areas to fulfill your swadharma. It can be anywhere. There are so many ways to serve, even in most developed places. At the same time, in each generation, there are some problems which are common and important across the globe. That is “vishwadharma” or our collective calling. We must heed to that as well. For example, today, there are problems like global warming and pollution.
Pollution of Silence -- We see so much environmental pollution around us, but another form of pollution prevalent today is the pollution of silence. This culture of silence, of ignoring all the injustices and inequalities around us, is harming us even more. It is our responsibility, and I think all of us must get involved in being the change and creating a more beautiful world.
Why she keeps up with the latest celebrity news - Before becoming a teacher and guide to someone, you have to be their friend. You have to relate to them. I deal with so many rural adolescents daily around sensitive and tabooed topics of reproductive health. So if I have to explain to someone the difference between “love and infatuation,” about discrimination against women, racial discrimination, addictions, I can give some examples from famous Bollywood films, and it becomes clear to them. So it’s a great way to be friendly, and build bridges with the youngsters.
Embracing impermanence - I lost both my parents to cancer. I recently lost my sister-in-law, who was also my best friend. Experiencing pain makes us more humane. When we experience it ourselves, we can empathize with others who are going through the same pain. So I feel doctors should put themselves in their patients’ shoes and have empathy. And as doctors, we need to be sensitive not only to patients but also to their relatives and caregivers. We lost many dear friends during this epidemic, but the most painful was losing my mother-in-law. She was very active at the age of 96 but suddenly developed complications due to coronavirus. Since Abhay has undergone angioplasty, the doctors advised us not to visit her. It was very sad that despite both of us being doctors, we couldn’t serve her in her last days, couldn’t attend her last rites. Similarly, when my mother had passed away, I was at Hopkins, and I couldn’t do anything. So yes, impermanence has been a great teacher in my life.
We are deeply grateful to Dr. Rani for sharing her wisdom, and to Dr. Sriram and Nisha for moderating this conversation, and to all other volunteers who help co-create this offering.