ASSAM: Anubhav Mahanta is 36. He runs a business in Guwahati, which is doing fairly well. Father of an eight-year-old daughter, he is a versatile person who writes books and makes films. Asking how and why he does all this leads to a remarkable story. Mahanta’s start-up specialises in something called ‘medical clowning’. This means keeping patients under treatment amused, by performing acts that clowns do in a circus.
Mahanta’s tale is unique because he came to know about this practice while he was being treated in New Delhi after an accident. He was badly hurt after being hit by a train in Guwahati. This was in 2006 and when shifted to the national capital, he was completely paralysed. He was in the hospital for three months and semi-paralysed when he returned to Guwahati. His treatment continued for the next few years.
Not completely cured even now, he initially did not realise what he experienced as part of a well-planned programme. At the Delhi hospital, health workers would come to him and crack jokes to keep him smiling when he was recuperating.
A debilitating accident, severe physical discomfort, and mental anguish caused by uncertainty over future, Mahanta was just relieved to be happy. He thinks this helped him recover quicker than expected.
Much later, it struck him that the health workers at the hospital were performing what is called medical clowning. Why not do it myself, he thought. “I didn’t think about it immediately. But over a period of time, I realised that I, too, could pursue medical clowning in my state of Assam.”
Sixteen years down the road, this elder son of a retired director of Directorate of Forensic Science, Assam, runs a start-up called “Assam Medical Clowning Academy”. It is approved by the state government and recognised by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park.
He runs a guesthouse adjacent to the B Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, where patients and their relatives stay. His company keeps them happy and charges `500 for 12 hours of service. He also runs a pharmacy and a Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana centre. He is a distributor of medicines as well. He is self-reliant and provides employment to 18 persons, including six women.
Some of his employees have undertaken training in hospitals. He insists that keeping patients happy is important. “After I returned to Guwahati, the hospital I was treated in video-called me on a few occasions to motivate patients. I would tell them, if I could overcome a difficult phase, they can too.”
His plans to undergo training at the MeDiClown Academy in Puducherry got disrupted due to the pandemic. So he has written to Fif Fernandes, co-founder of the academy and laughter yoga teacher who has graduated from the Humor Academy of the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor in the US. Fernandes has replied that her academy is looking forward to collaborating with him.
“I have been very moved and touched by your story and your deep commitment to support humanity, starting with your own community in Assam. You have overcome many barriers and it is important that you are supported in your continued journey of healing yourself and others physically, emotionally and mentally,” Fernandes wrote.
“You have demonstrated firsthand, how the power of the mind and using humour and laughter has been instrumental in your healing. Your journey is remarkable and it is important that we at MeDiClown Academy support you as you touch as many people as possible with what you can offer.”
Mahanta is trying to do that and more, after launching his start-up in 2019. “We also do the work which a patient’s attendant normally does at home or in hospital. We charge Rs 500 a day for three beds at the guesthouse. We have a kitchen and we provide LPG and utensils for free.” A couple of hospitals in Guwahati he had approached praised his initiative. They informed their patients’ relatives about Mahanta’s initiative. The service is also extended to households when sought.
A few years ago, Mahanta was conferred the ‘Outstanding Individual of The Year’ award by an NGO called ‘Atmanirbhar’. Thereafter, he turned into a motivational speaker. He is invited to educational institutes where he shares how he defeated adversity and became successful in life.
During a video-conferencing with Mahanta on Janaushadhi Diwas in 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him for his outstanding performance. “The country has nearly 7,000 such centres but the PM had spoken only with me and five others. It was a proud moment for me,” Mahanta recalls.
The experience of conquering adversity has prompted him to venture into other streams. Not only has he written a book called ‘Moi Anubhav’ (I am Anubhav), which was published by Assam Publishing Company, he is also a filmmaker. The films he has made are ‘Bond’, ‘Hope’, ‘Struggling Gurukuls’ and ‘Bathou Dorja Khol’. Bond (2011) won the best film and the best direction awards at the third CineASA Guwahati International Film Festival. Struggling Gurukuls (2016) was selected as one of the top five films from 2,200 entries at EduDoc, an international short film competition. Bathou Dorja Khol (2016) had won the second runner-up award at the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival.
Anubhav says he received tremendous support from his mother Sikha Mahanta, who is an duty officer at All India Radio, Guwahati, and brother Abeg Mahanta in all his endeavours. He does not forget to mention that his eight-year-old daughter Aarna has been the source of his inspiration.
Many feathers in mahanta’s cap
Mahanta has received the ‘Outstanding Individual of The Year’ award from an NGO called ‘Atmanirbhar’. During a video-conferencing session with him on Janaushadhi Diwas in 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him for his outstanding performance.