Subhashini Mistry: An Ordinary, Simple Woman Who Restored the Belief inHumanity
Fate can bring ups and downs in any one’s life without any kind of caution. Tragedy never strikes with any kind of notifications. It just comes and takes away something precious from us and we are left with pain and despair. Losing your loved one brings tremendous pain and emptiness that could never be filled again. But there are some unique kinds of people who come out of tragedy with a stronger vision to help others. They are those special ones who go the extra mile to save and serve humanity from losing hope.
A Lady with an Unconditional Love for Others
Subashini Mistry had seen life at its worst. From the moment of her birth misery dogged her life. Bengal Famine had already driven unprepared farmers and their families to death and starvation. She was born in a very poor family. Her father who was a marginal farmer had a hard time feeding his 14 children. He worked on his tiny patch of land, in Kulwa village of Kolkata. It was a time of misery. To make the ends meet and provide food for kids, her mother used to beg food from the churches, NGOs, ashrams but the cold hands of death took away seven of her children. Poverty, starvation, death was the perpetual companion in their life.
Subashini Mistry was married at the young age of 12 to Sadhan Chandra Mistry an agricultural worker. Life was never painless for her. It was a struggle to pass each and every day. She had four children; somehow she was managing through the hardships when disaster struck again. Her husband suffered from a case of diarrhoea. She stood helplessly and watched how her husband writhing in pain. Their poverty once again was a curse. The doctors and the nurses refused to pay any attention to her husband. At last, death took away the pain and the torment of her husband. She was filled with grief and hopelessness. She was just 24 years old. Neither she had any formal education nor any skills or training, how was she going to raise her four kids? She was in shock and misery.
She felt her husband died because of the negligence and callous exhibited by the hospital staff. Her husband had nothing more a bout of gastroenteritis that could have been easily rescued by just providing the basic medical attention. She made up her mind that fateful day, she would do all she could but she is going to build a hospital just for the poor. No one in this world should suffer like she was suffering.
With a Massive Ambition, the Lady with a Vision Started her Journey of Sacrifices and Saving
After her husband’s death, she couldn’t even afford the luxury of despair. With four hungry kids to feed she was like a woman on a mission. She used to work as a maidservant for four to five houses. She recalls her journey, “There is no work my hands have not done. I have cooked, mopped floors, washed utensils, cleaned gardens, polished shoes, concreted roofs.” Out of her four kids, the youngest was good in studies, she sent him to an orphanage since she couldn’t manage his education. The other three kids stayed with her and helped her through the journey of hardships.
She was a determined soul; she never allowed any obstacle to come on her way. She understood that selling vegetables would fetch more money than doing housemaid jobs. So she shifted to Dhapa village where she started to sell vegetables in Park Circus. For more than 20 years she saved and scrimped. She spent very little on herself and her children. She had not given up on her dream of building the hospital. She was saving little by little each and every penny she could.
“There is no work my hands have not done. I have cooked, mopped floors, washed utensils, cleaned gardens, polished shoes, concreted roofs.”
Humanity Hospital
Slowly but steadily, she gathered enough money to buy a plot in her husband’s village. Once the land was bought, she informed the villagers about her plan. The villagers contributed whatever they could. By 1993, a temporary clinic was set up. Doctors were requested to offer free services. Five to six doctors offered free services ranging from two or four hours a week. On the first day, more than 252 patients were treated. ‘Humanity hospital’ was born that day, in a small shed. From that day onward, there was no turning back.
By 1996 a permanent building of Humanity Hospital came into being in the village. A lifetime of patience and hard work led to a moment of ecstasy. The hospital building was inaugurated by the then-West Bengal governor, K.V. Raghunath Reddy.
Subashini Mistry has fulfilled her dream, ‘No one should be denied medical attention’. ‘Humanity Hospitals’ have come a long way from the day it was opened. The hospital has expanded to 9,000 sq feet spread over two floors. But the goal of Subashini has never changed. The hospital is not for any business but for the needy. In the hospital for minor ailments, just Rs 10 is needed and for major surgeries, less than five thousand is required. She is the mother of the needy. And now her son is a doctor in the same hospital.
But she is not yet finished with her philanthropy work. She has started work for another hospital in Sundarbans.
‘No one should be denied medical attention’
Awards for the True Testament of Kindness and Strong Will Power
Her selfless nature and her dedication have made her the real superhero of our country. She has been awarded by the prestigious ‘Padma Shri’ and she also has received ‘Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award’ in the mind-of-steel category, in 2009.
Feature Image credit: Zealpedia
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