Youth Day Special: Silchar's Dr. Tanveer Ahmed describes his experience on board the Lifeline Express at Badarpur Station

Ophthalmologist in the making Dr. Tanveer Ahmed from Silchar Medical College recounts his weeklong experience at Badarpur Junction on board the Lifeline Express, a noble initiative of the Impact India Foundation.

While speaking  with Barak Bulletin he shared his Initial reactions with us on being selected:

“I got the official notice on the 3rd of January directing me and my co-PGTs Dr. Saura Kamal Dutta and Dr Vikash Sharma to participate in the 7-day surgical camp from 5th to 11th January in the Lifeline Express at Badarpur Railway Junction. As always, I did my homework and searched for the camp on the internet. I found out that this was an initiative taken up by the Impact India Foundation since 1991 in collaboration with Indian Railways and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India. The week-long duty in the Lifeline Express was indeed the experience of a lifetime for me. An OPD with 600+ patients that went up to 890 one day, post-op rounds of 70+ patients, assisting around 60+ cataract surgeries every day is in itself a mammoth task. In the OT, I had the privilege of assisting the senior surgeons Dr. Rashmi Barve and Dr. Vaishali Uttam Tambe. Under their strict yet loving hawk eyes, I also performed a few cataract surgeries.”

Speaking about his daily routine on the Lifeline Express he elaborated “I would start at 7 AM from the SMC campus and would have my breakfast inside the train pantry coach itself. Seven different cuisines for breakfast on seven days was an added bonus for a foodie like me. After that, I attended the massively overcrowded yet well-organized OPD with my colleagues till 4 PM or so, followed by lunch. Then after a break of 15 minutes, I would enter the OT along with the senior eye surgeons. The schedule was hectic and on days I would come back to SMC well past midnight but I went to bed with the satisfaction of learning and having played my role in serving the people and my country.”

Delineating about the warm treatment from his colleagues and patients he said “Our visiting surgeons from Mumbai Dr. Rashmi and Vaishali were like friend philosopher and guide as well as being motherly depending upon the situation. The patients who were mostly senior citizens blessed us. Dr. Jasbeer, a member of IIF, became a friend and is someone I will never forget. The patients who were mostly senior citizens blessed us with all their hearts. One of them offered me an orange too which I was bound to accept after a bit of hesitation.”

Swami Vivekananda also inspires him to move forward in life speaking of which he said “I have been privileged to be intimately associated with the Ramakrishna Mission, Karimganj since my school days at Govt HS School. All I learnt is that “dharma” is not just a few religious customs that most of us follow but a way of life irrespective of the God we worship. Swamiji because of his humanitarian approach to life has a big role to play in the life of a doctor like me. The quote from Swamiji that inspires and fuels me to work for my people always and forever is-

“BOHURUPE SOMMUKHE TOMAR
CHAARI KOTHA KHUJICHO ISHWAR?
JIBE PREM KORE JEIJON
SHEIJON SEBICHE ISHWAR”

Dr Tanveer Ahmed is a 3rd Year PGT from the Department of Ophthalmology, Silchar Medical College. He is a voluntary blood donor and his other interests include literature, cricket and photography