Rashmi Uday Singh - Lifegiver: The Biography of the Legendary Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Dr R.P. Soonawala

I dedicate this book with gratitude to the one above, to my loving families and friends, to my fabulous son, actor-writer Dhruv Uday Singh, and to the superstar Dr R.P. Soonawala, who delivered my son-shine

CONTENTS

I COULD REACH DEEP into the womb of language to describe the impressive achievements of Padmashri Rustom Phiroze Soonawala, a globally acknowledged name in obstetrics and gynaecology, a pioneer of family planning in India and an inventor of instruments and procedures that have shaped the history of modern ob-gyn in the country. I could pull out every workable synonym for empathetic and universally loved and respected, or else I could tell you how the cover shoot for this book came about a story that, in a nutshell, says it all.

It all happened with sublime serendipity, so perfectly did it all happen. Our budget was limited, and so when I bumped into friend and high-profile photographer Daboo Ratnani quite by chance, I wistfully mentioned that we were looking for a photographer to do the cover shoot. Ill do it, he said immediately. We cant afford your Bollywood superstar rates, champ, I told him. Ill do it for love, he shot back. Doc and his son, Feroze, delivered both my children. The least I can do is deliver the cover shot. Armed with the necessary permissions from Breach Candy Hospital, I arrived there early the next day, but Daboo had beaten me to the spot in his sleek Mercedes, followed by his hi-tech equipment van.

The magic did not end there. Not only was the neonate Aevram on the cover delivered by Dr Feroze Soonawala, but he came from a long line of actors: besides parents Shaad and Pooja Randhawa, other members of the new-borns star-studded clan included Dara Singh and Mumtaz Sardarsingh, Bollywood actors all. The parents were over the moon. Wah! Hamare bete ki toh kismet khul gayi (My son is very fortunate), the father said indulgently. He will definitely become a superstar. Ek toh Doctor saab ke kandhey pe , in addition he is on a book cover photographed by Daboo Ratnani, whose snapshots are famous for launching superstars. So, as Daboo clicked away, capturing emotions and moments with a skill finely honed over the years, it seemed as though history was being written before my very eyes.

Though the cover photo shoot happened in the twinkling of an eye, it has taken me more than five years to write this biography as I have determinedly tried to keep up with Doc and his frenetic schedules. I would spend hours at his clinic, or at his dining table at home, in restaurants, in hospitals, follow him into the operating theatre, fly with him to Jaipur, Delhi and Mykonos, spend days visiting the various apartments he lived in and the colleges he studied in. I had long conversations with his friends, patients, relatives and fans. He is fun uncle to his nephews and nieces, and the worlds greatest grandfather to his six grandsons. He is like my second husband, says actress Neetu Singh. To Max Healthcares chief Analjit Singh, He is friend, brother, father and colleague. Every time I meet someone who has come into contact with Doc, I realize the tremendous respect and love he commands.

What follows is the remarkable story of his journey.

A blend of contraries

Dr Soonawalas is the fascinating story of how the grandson of an engine driver went on to gain flamboyant success. As he ministered to celebrities and film stars, he continued to take up the cudgel in defence of the underdog. Today, at eighty-six, he has never dyed his hair, he has had cataract surgeries but doesnt use spectacles. His energy is legendary and infectious. And he is a study in contradictions. Not fond of studying there were two failed attempts before he got his MBBS he went on to win the highest awards in medicine. Despite being soft-spoken and an introvert, he is a fiery champion of the helpless and those without a voice to speak out against injustice. He advocates family planning strongly, devising instruments and procedures to facilitate its widespread practice, yet he himself has four children! When asked how many children I have, I always say two, and then softly add, of each, he tells me with his signature chuckle.

Although shy and retiring and ill at ease at big gatherings, he has walked the ramp and modelled for Hutchison Max and has been on the panel of judges for a Gladrags model hunt. He has a passion for fast cars and Ganesha idols, and always wears white to work. He is not particular about what he eats and remains disarmingly simple and humble. He has a history of being constantly pursued and wooed by women (with love notes and flowers and chocolates), but he remains a dedicated and dependable family man, remaining close to his brothers and their families too. His success as a doctor is nothing short of brilliant, resulting in a fan following of film stars and industry leaders, while he is just as much the hero of nurses and ward boys. Each has a personal bond and a special rapport with him. Like I have.

My learning curve

Over the past three decades, as a health columnist, TV producer, director and presenter of health shows, I have interacted with RP on several occasions, once interviewing him for my TV show Health Today (fifty-second episode telecast on DD Metro). I wrote a weekly health column for the Indian Express for fifteen years in which he featured regularly. I have been his patient for more than thirty years, and he, the epitome of gentle expertise. It was twenty-nine years ago that RP delivered my son and filled my life with indescribable joy. I underwent a hysterectomy and, much later, an emergency laparotomy. In short, he spent so much time in my insides that I determined that I would spend as much time inside his head!

By the time I finished this book, I found myself getting more and more inspired by this eighty-six-year-young man who tirelessly toils and zigzags across continents with such joie de vivre. During the five years that I spent tracking his high-octane life, not only did I learn about the history of modern medicine as I chronicled his formidable medical achievements (a must read for any one in the field of medicine), but I was also tickled by Docs impish sense of humour, and most of all by his endless compassion and empathy. I have been amazed about how even today he continues to excite female passions and jealousies. But just like he spent so much time inside my tummy, I have done so many times over inside his head, and it gives me great joy to share with you his story.

After half a decade of working on the biography, I will now need to spend the rest of my life overcoming a huge inferiority complex that I seem to have developed. I am known for my phenomenal energy levels, but I found it impossible to keep pace with Doc. Ive amnesia with names and faces and find it difficult to recollect what I did two days ago, whereas he remembers what happened on a Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the June of 1955! For sure, as he says, age is only a number which should power us to keep going. This book is suffused with that energy, dynamism and vivacity that you will find infectious as you turn the pages.

AS HE SLOWLY AND gently withdraws his white-gloved hand, there is blood. Clotty, messy, blackish red. Yet he advances skilfully, moving the glinting scalpel like a sculptor, his face impassive and calm behind a mask, his eyes bright, alert.

I feel faint but find myself marvelling at the scene before me. Am I in a horror film? No, Im in an operating theatre in a swanky, gleaming downtown Mumbai hospital, its air frosty, sterile, and changing twelve times a minute. While the pretty, thirty-five-year-old patient lies sedated and vulnerable under pools of cold light, the claustrophobic, womb-like room seems to take on a life of its own. It throbs to the sound of the heartbeat monitor; other machines sigh, click and cluck, minding blood-pressure, oxygenation and other functions through an auditory stimulus. My teeth chatter (I am in an operating theatre in a cotton gown), partly due to the air-conditioning and partly because of the gore that is now being extracted so casually. Yes, I am squeamish about blood. Nevertheless, I cannot help but stare wide-eyed at the handsome man who performs the operation like hes orchestrating a symphony.