Vegetable Vendor to Humanity Hospital

A Dreamer with a Vision

Sometimes a healing touch can perform a miracle that even the most effective medicines can't. No one knows it better than the patients at The Humanity Hospital at Hanspukur near Kolkata because here they have found both - all thanks to the grit and determination of one woman, 80-year-old Subhasini Mistry.

Twenty-five-years-ago, tragedy struck Subhasini's life when she lost her husband to a stomach condition. In her grief Subhasini found her life's calling.

"My husband died due to the lack of proper treatment, so I decided to make a small hospital so that others don't suffer like me," says she.

With no money and four young children to take care of, Subhasini had no time to grieve. She washed dishes, polished shoes, worked as a construction labourer and for 20 years she sold vegetables at Kolkata's Park Circus, never spending a single penny on life's luxuries - all this because she had not given up on her dream of building a hospital.

"I used to earn about five paisa. Two paisa was for rent, two paisa was for eating and I used to save one paisa," she recalls.

The only silver lining in Submarine’s life was her eldest son Ajoy. He was a good student but she couldn't afford his schooling. So she sent him to an orphanage. Ajoy became a doctor.

Today Ajoy and his three siblings are Subhasini's pillars of strength. He attends to the patients in the hospital, his wife feeds them and his sister is a nurse there.

In 1993, the hospital was started from a thatched shed on a one acre land bought by Subhasini from her life long savings. Nearby doctors agreed to volunteer. On the very first day, 250 patients were treated.

Ten years later, Subhasini's dream had become a reality. The Humanity Hospital was constructed in 2002 with donations and help from local politicians.

With eleven departments and doctors providing voluntary service, the hospital's OPD treats 50 patients a day. In more serious cases the patients are admitted and surgeries are performed at nominal fees.

With Ajoy at the helm of affairs Subhasini now spends most of her time tending to the sick or looking after her grandchildren, but she's quick to point out that her mission is not over yet. 

She is nominated for Harmony India silver awards for the year 2007.