Born and brought up in Delhi into a middle class family, I was blissfully unaware of my privileges and came into the medical profession by insistence of my parents, and no direction of my own. Soon enough I found myself protesting against caste-based reservation, little aware of the complex socio-economic threads that determine the fate of an individual in our country. Discussions and debates among friends made me more sensitive to the inequities in our society in general, and particularly in health. By internship, I had decided to work in a place where there are no doctors, where the poor and homeless are positively discriminated like the rich in cities. Trained as an anesthetist, I found my calling in 2019 in Palliative care. We began a not for profit called Sangwari-People’s Association for Equity and Health, in 2021 and work in Surguja, Chhattisgarh. Service, training, advocacy and research are all means which we employ to make healthcare more equitable to all. I believe we should enable representation in the communities we wish to serve at crucial platforms with the intent to be an ally instead of a saviour.
