Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander
Health has been counted as a blessing. Sickness as a trial, tribulation, and punishment has been described in various religious scriptures. Health and Sickness are the two sides of the same coin. It is inevitable for any human not to be sick. Humans since their existence have always sought to discover remedies to cure sickness, prolong life and maintain a good health. Every generation added its wisdom about diseases and their cures. It is quite unfortunate that after Renaissance, the European colonial powers demonized, destroyed, and demeaned the traditional vernacular systems of medical knowledge. They were described as altogether unscientific, which later on they internalized, thus arresting their growth, sometimes retrograding them to pseudo-science and quackery. However, still, those systems of medical practice exist and even Mahatma Gandhi advocated them.
This book is not an academic study of the tussle between different systems of medical practice, but as the title suggests, Opulent Memoirs is a treasure trove of medical experiences that Dr Sheikh Aejaz Aziz, has accumulated over the decades of his practice. Dr Sheikh is a famed oncologist of Kashmir Valley. He has won numerous academic fellowships, earned laurels, is socially engaged with various philanthropic groups, particularly Shama Foundation. His name is synonymous with competence and specialization in the field of Oncology. He has impacted numerous lives, saved many more, cured numerous patients, and continues to be a role model inspiring his colleagues and juniors to excel in the field of oncology.
This book documents case studies of various cancer patients that Dr Sheikh has treated over the course of decades, with a streak of autobiographical anecdotes too glaring some of the pages of the work. The belief in the supremacy of Allah, being the ultimate healer is time and again emphasized in this memoir. It depicts the strong manifestation of Dr Sheikh’s Muslim faith. The whole work revolves around the victims of cancer, how there is a lack of awareness about this deadly disease. This lack of awareness, coupled with sedentary lifestyle, reinforced by gluttonous habit of eating fat rich food, complemented by carcinogenic habit of smoking, all contribute to making cancer an epidemic.
The book reads like a diary, as the oncologist goes on penning down his experiences, while understanding his patients, making them aware about the deadly disease, inculcating confidence among them to resist the disease and encourage them to take a healthy diet. These daily dealings with the cancer patients bring to the fore unique concerns and issues. The reader is made aware about how the cancer evokes a different response among men and women patients. The problems that women face because of cancer are complex ranging from emotional to social. They are much perplexed if they are unmarried, and loss of hair due to the chemotherapy is quite a traumatising event for most of them.
Breaking the life changing news about a person falling victim to cancer, is the first challenge, and there is a need for psychological counselling and help for cancer patients, as many patients are in a denial mode when it comes to such diseases. Then there comes the role of attendants, who intend to downplay the disease and want the doctor not to reveal the actual intensity of the disease to the patient. It impacts adversely the life of the victim, from monetary, social, economic and marital life, every aspect is severely ruptured by it. So, a multi pronged approach is advocated to deal with such patients. However, such an approach as advocated by the worthy author is missing on ground, so he has to don different hats to fit into multiple roles. “The situation is very delicate and critical and requires a professional psycho-social approach by a team consisting of an Oncologist, Psychologist, a Social worker, an Ngo personnel, nutritional therapist and rehabilitation expert. Most of the occasions in our working conditions, oncologist solo is the person, all in one, to discharge such obligations to the capability he possesses.” (P-53)
The malignancy changes even the marital relationship, if the victim is the wife. Cancer also creates a financial burden on the family, and may economically render them as paupers, because cancer treatment despite the government intervention involves lots of expenses. Given the economics of the disease, a number of philanthropic organizations are dedicated to mitigate the cancer crisis. Even Dr Sheikh is part of one such initiative and organization, Shama Foundation that provides relief to cancer victims, but these memoirs do not mention it. Maybe out of modesty or from the fear of public display of social work may render his good deeds nullified in the eyes of God, our worthy author skips its mention.
Many documented cases, also explore and engage about how the doctors conducted their operations during Covid, when covid had added further woes to both patients and doctors. Inspite of these adverse conditions, the doctors still managed to uphold the Hippocratic oath, thus offering no space for criticism. This book although written using medical terminologies, that only professionals can understand, but the merit of this work lies in the fact that it offers huge insights for the common readers too. Hence it can be read by every type of audience.
However, the social dynamics and economic aspect of this disease could have been explored further. In local parlance and vernacular Kashmiri, Cancer was an invective, hurled as an abuse during any tussle. It was considered as a part of punishment if anyone was afflicted with this deadly disease. Further, the history of Cancer mitigation in Kashmir would have certainly added to the academic merit of this memoir. No work of any author is perfect, and it certainly can be improved, but our respected Dr Sheikh Aejaz Aziz certainly deserves our kudos and congratulations for penning down such beautiful memoirs.
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is a Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir and can be reached at sikandarmushtaq@gmail.com
