Panduranga Rao

So the closest thing I could get to certify that somebody had passed was to look at the pupil.

So I said, okay, at least get me a flashlight.

And so he readily ran and got a flashlight.

And as you know, all the train ticket examiners in India, they carry a flashlight, which is five feet long.

So he got this huge flashlight and I had to go back and shine it.

And then lo behold, the pupils were dilated, and indeed, this poor chap had passed.

And so they gave me the papers, and I certified him as dead.

It was a very sad event, but I nonetheless did that, and it was with a sense of some accomplishment that I did that.

And then I started walking back to my third class seat.

By the time the word had spread,

that there is this doctor among our midst who actually certified a patient to have passed.

And because of that, he saved us eight hours of waiting.

And then when I sat there, immediately everybody gathered around me and asked me where I was from.

Do you want some food?

Take this food.

Take this coffee.

Take this drink.

And I became a hero.

And it was at that time I suddenly realized who I was and what it meant to be a doctor.

that despite doing something so intensely sad, despite doing something which should actually cause so much of grief, I yet managed to bring so much of comfort and stability to everybody else around me.