INTRODUCTION
My Daughter's Locket to Begin with Moments come in life when fears overcome the mind. When it is a case of one's own grave suffering or the sickness of a near or dear one, fears take their worst form. In such situations of distress, it is the thought of God that brings solace to many. For persons lacking faith in a superior force, instant peace of mind is like a far cry. I belonged to this latter class of people.
One day in September 1987, while I was trying hard to walk through the crowds of patients and people on the intricate corridors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi to reach an eminent physician named Dr. Subrata Kumar Acharya, I heard a friendly voice from behind, and stopped. "Good morning, Sir, whom are you looking for? May I help you?" He was Dr. Ansari from my home city of Bhubaneswar, a scientist who worked in the Regional Research Laboratory of that place. His wife Sultana Nilofer was my student during her post-graduate studies in Utkal University.
Ansari enquired eagerly why I was there. I told him that I had brought my son for colonoscopy and wanted to see Dr. Acharya for fixing up the date and time of the test. Next, I asked him the reason for his visit to the Institute. Ansari's smiling face at once turned pale. Numerous patients and their relatives who come to that premier medical institution of the country everyday invari-ably present anxious faces, and Ansari was no exception. He an-swered, "My wife Sultana, your student, underwent colonoscopy yesterday. She has cancer. She will be operated upon as soon as possible."
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