An article on BBC (titled: Hu meets Mumbai doctor's family) introduced me to the little known story of Dr. Kotnis. The article talks about the chinese president Hi Jintao meeting the family of a certain Doctor in mumbai.
A quick search on wikipedia revealed that Dr. Kotnis was one of the 5-doctor medical team that was sent to China during the Cino-Japanese war of 1938. All except Kotnis returned to India safely. During his 5 years long stay in China, Kotnis served as a front-line doctor and won recognition for his efforts. To date, he is considered to be one of the chinese heroes.
The chinese revere him to such an extent that, every high-ranking chinese official who visits India makes it a point to pay respects to his family.
It was then that i suddenly recalled having seen a film called "Dr. Kotnis ki amar kahani" starring V. Shantaram. This was when i was in my teens. However, even after so many years, the story is equally touching.
I salute the memory of the great man.
Source: Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis - wikipedia.
Image courtesy and source: wikipedia.org
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