Last week, I had that standard call for advice but with a new twist. After the usual pleasantries, I was asked, “My daughter is deciding her future. Do you think she should be pursuing medicine as a career?

Despite judiciary and state intervention, is there enough awareness amongst ordinary citizens how their occasional chance of public enjoyment and assertion is harmful to others is another thing? A sensitive subject explored

When we examine the belly of patients with abdominal-pain, we are taught to carefully look for scars. These convey important information. Interestingly, scars also bear testimony to several cultural and surgical trends of certain periods of history.

As the junior most house surgeon at a Mumbai public hospital in the ’80s one almost sleepwalked through work. But even from that foggy memory some incidents come back in a flash, triggered by current events. This is one of them.

A sonography showed a pockmarked shrunken liver typical of cirrhosis. Further tests disclosed she was positive for Hepatitis C. That single bottle of blood had transmitted it. It was just a single transfusion, likely not needed, which almost sealed Sunanda’s fate.

The original inhabitants of Worli’s Koliwada have withstood changing weather, declining marine life, the ravages of development and even Covid. We all savour the traditional Koli dance where they are expressing their joy but increasingly hiding sorrows.

Jamil was ten when he started chewing ‘khat’. As he entered his 20, Jamil was detected with liver disease. In 2017, Jamil underwent a successful liver transplant, with his wife as a donor.. A few days ago we did a video call. He introduced us to his children, something he had never done before

With their local health systems broken and unable to provide specialised care, many like the Rajbhars brave the challenge of travelling to a big, alien, expensive city with hope. They sleep on the streets or in the corridors of hospitals, tending to their loved ones with amazing resilience.