12 Years- A Pilgrimage and Saving The Deity

Yesterday I left Dharamshila BMT Centre– the Temple we had built brick by brick along with Dr Khanna in 2013. A temple where I wished to establish our Deity of HAPLOIDENTICAL BMT. 

The pranpratistha or consecration was not easy- an understatement probably! For all those who gave years of their lives, blood, sweat and sacrifice to turn every failed attempt to a success- from TCRab depletion to PTCy to finally finding our way in giving Abatacept in one hand and PTCy in the other. Add sirolimus or cyclosporine to it – And Our Deity came alive. The conceptualisation, confirmation to consecration took its toll on all of us. 

Dr Sarita Jaiswal could not see her toddler grow to a teenager. Her family wouldn’t relent from dissuading her and yet she persevered. From not having a passport and separate bank account in 2012, she flew to USA every year to present the art of science we created in our little Temple, as oral presentations- every year from 2015-2025. Almost every country of Europe had stamped her passport either for oral presentations at EBMT, Chair at EBMT session or as speaker at EBMT Hemoglobinopathies Working party. The fairy tale didn’t end there. It culminated in a doctoral thesis and a PhD degree at the Amity University.

Looking back with awe at the mesmerising ascent of an individual, I often wonder how kind the divine mother (Ma Kali) has been to me -to make me the medium of this transformation! I have been often asked as to why I did not take the centre stage and hog all the accolades myself. To those who ask-I say that wisdom is gained when knowledge is disseminated like a flowing river, giving its little bit to the ocean of endeavour. In the process, civilisations grow by the bank of the river. And they bear the testimony to the legacy of the river even after it ceases to exist. Dr Sarita is one such civilisation who has flourished by the banks of my river. May she flourish and create generations of such individuals who would grow by the embankment. I chose to be the river and not the civilisation.

My boys barely saw me in these 12 years. And my wife thought it was a closed chapter! But not even once did she question the cause for which i had taken up Sanyas within the 4 walls of the BMT Centre of Dharamshila Hospital. I am not ashamed to say that after 12 years, I barely know a street of Delhi or its exotic cuisines. I have not travelled places. I have just given everything I had at the altar of this temple.

Many joined and left us. Some to pursue a better career and life and some out of frustration. Many could not bear to hold aloft the flag of honesty, integrity and compassion with the unwavering commitment it deserves.

Yet, Dr Mahak Agarwal who joined us at the peak of COVID in 2020 hung on. And boy did she grow- with not a single day of break whether it be Sunday or Holiday. Through personal grief and turmoil, her focus didn’t shift. She weathered many a storm along with us or even alone, to carry the cross which I thought was mine to bear. I am sure she will grow up and flourish as yet another civilisation by this river bank. And could I have asked for more! 

I was reassured to see that many nurses, like Shivam and Rupa grinding out half a decade of their lives with unwavering dedication. Seen Usha rising from a mere ward secretary to a champion of patients’ cause, through all the ups and downs of her personal life. Lo and behold achieving a MBA amidst all of these. We are sad to leave many behind who held the fort through rain and hail. But that’s the unforgiving nature of this journey- the chosen path.

None of these civilisations can flourish without cultural exchange with others who are growing independent of our existence. And so we saw brilliant individuals from other departments pouring in to make us richer, flow smoother, give more lives a chance to survive. I would write about these exceptional individuals at another time as they deserve their own space.

A few days back, we gathered together with all compatriots to say a final adieu. I never expected the love and affection which were showered on the day. How blessed am I and how blessed are we, to have touched so many lives.

Why are we leaving our temple? One we had held together dedicatedly and painstakingly. Dr Khanna had built the temple, we consecrated life in the Deity. But the temple is under attack and we have to save the Deity if we are unable to save the temple by ourselves. And so we are taking the Deity of the art and science of Haploidentical BMT and cellular therapy to its new temple- for the Deity cannot be assaulted and broken into pieces. We shall not allow. So is the ‘Flight with our Diety’. 

We have seen that in the world of greed and lust, the pious ones still exist. Some of them are erecting a temple for our Deity with the devotion which she deserves. The river will take a different path but it has to flow hoping for newer civilisations to populate its new embankment. With one motto and one vision- “we are grateful to have been given this unique opportunity by Mata Bhavatarini to acquire and spread the wisdom that makes us humble, kind and compassionate to the suffering of others. “ 

Wealth can not come at the cost of wisdom, Salvation will come from the path of Dharma. 

Success or failure has never been my yardstick. Finding answers from what’s in the nature has been my goal and my teaching. And in this unending quest I forego fame and glory, I persevere and so shall I also perish in due course. I Just hope that the quest must survive amidst the assault of Men acting like God and ignoring the fact that all answers lie in the Mother Nature. Only if we know how to look for it.