RAJASTHAN: In the busy JLN Hospital of Ajmer, you can find Dr Shravan Chaudhary attending to his patients everyday -- with the help of crutches. From a young age, he wanted to become a doctor, his physical disability notwithstanding. He refused to let his disability define him.
It was a tragic night on October 31, 1984, that changed the course of Shravan’s life forever. He was 10 months old when the news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination shocked the nation. Amidst the chaos, Shravan fell seriously ill.
Isolated in his village of Jaswantpura in Rajgarh tehsil of Ajmer, getting medical help seemed impossible: he soon contracted polio, leaving him disabled for life.
“I had a high fever for two days but due to lack of resources, my parents could not take me to hospital. My whole world changed in those two days. Probably, on the first day of fever, my one leg got disabled and on the second day, the other leg too suffered. When we eventually reached the hospital in a couple of days, my parents were shocked to learn that I had polio,” recalls Dr Shravan.
The lack of awareness about the polio vaccine in his family led to those events. “Everyone in the family had been vaccinated against polio, but due to lack of awareness, the elders in the house did not pay attention to getting me the vaccine.” His father, then in the Army, spent a major part of his earnings in my treatment post-retirement, but nothing much happened.
As he grew older and started attending school, young Shravan became acutely aware of the pain of his disability. His school days were marked by isolation, taunting, and exclusion from activities that other children enjoyed.
His mother had to pick and drop him to his school. “As a child, I didn’t have friends. Teachers would look on pityingly, neighbours would laugh as I was taunted in school because of my disability.
I wasn’t allowed to participate in sports. Even if I reached the ground, the kids made fun of me. There was no game in which I could be involved. I just stood in the corner and clapped. For picnics, most class teachers refused to take me.”
However, Shravan’s parents were his greatest strength. They encouraged him to face life head-on. His father, Subhash Chandra, an ex-army man, inspired him to surmount any obstacle that came his way.
His parents had thought that whatever may happen, Shravan has to be made capable and told him: Don’t let your disability come in the way of your luck.” His father got him treated at the Army’s Command Hospital in Pune.
Finally, when nothing was of any use, his father grabbed the crutches and told Shravan to walk himself, so that no one’s help would be needed. When he started going by school bus, his father got himself transferred and started driving the school bus. In 1996, after the retirement of his father, the family shifted to Pilani permanently.
The desire to become a doctor was kindled in Shravan as he observed how medical professionals could make a difference in people’s lives. But the path to becoming a doctor was not easy. The financial condition of the family had also worsened while Shravan was undergoing treatment. “The medical coaching fee was `20,000. But my parents did not have enough money. Then, my mother borrowed some money from our neighbour’s friend to pay the fees.”
Shravan cracked the pre-medical test and secured a seat in Veterinary Sciences. But that wasn’t enough. Undeterred by setbacks, he continued his fight, which eventually led him to get into MBBS after a legal battle in the Rajasthan High Court. His dream was fulfilled, and in 2011, Dr. Shravan Chowdhary earned his well-deserved title of MBBS doctor.
After securing a government job as a Medical Officer in February 2013, he found himself serving in the prestigious JLN Hospital, the biggest and most respected government medical facility in the Ajmer division. Not only is he a dedicated doctor, but he also actively participates in social work, focusing on raising awareness about hearing health and polio.
Shravan also actively participates in social work related to improving health awareness. He says that after 1995, a campaign was launched to eradicate polio in the country, after which there has been a rapid decline in polio cases.
Since 2013, Dr Shravan visits villages to actively conduct pulse polio campaigns. “We should not compromise on vaccination, not even for a single child. So I go to as many villages as possible and give my own example and say that if I had got two drops of vaccine,I would have never got polio.”
Dr Shravan is a sports enthusiast, cherishing the games he couldn’t play as a child. He believes that the Divyang deserve better facilities and opportunities in the country, much like what is available in many foreign countries.