Doctors' Day

July 1 annually is celebrated in India as the Doctors' Day.Dr B C ROY who was born in Patna on the first of July 1882. Is it an irony of fate or just a mere coincidence that the great man breathed his last also on the first of July 80 years later in the year 1962.In his lifespan of 80 glorious and hard years Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy rose to excel as a physician, shine as an eminent freedom fighter and a brilliant statesman. He was associated with the Indian National Congress party and was the chief minister of West Bengal state for 14 years when he died on first July, 1962. He was credited with taking charge of the greatly disturbed state of the region post-partition.Having done his undergraduate medical studies at Calcutta Medical College, he later joined his alma mater as a teacher after doing his higher studies at London. Deeply motivated to serve the people and the nation he did a lot of work in the health sector building hospitals and health care facilities for the poor , downtrodden and the needy.He received the Bharat Ratna award, the highest civilian award bestowed by the Government of the Republic of India on February 4, 1961. After his death his house which was named after his mother 'Aghorkamani Devi' was turned into a nursing home as per his wishes. The government in 1976 constituted a national award named after him for excellence in the medical field.He is known for his famous words as well as deeds. He once said ""We have the ability and if, with faith in our future, we exert ourselves with determination, nothing, I am sure, no obstacles, however formidable or insurmountable they may appear at present, can stop our progress... (if) all work unitedly, keeping our vision clear and with a firm grasp of our problems."