When the last journey became a festival

When the last journey became a festival 87-Year-Old Social Worker’s Body Donated To Sola Medical College   Ahmedabad: Death of nears and dears is generally considered a mournful occasion as the body is taken for the last journey amid tearful eyes of the relatives. However, when the body of Bhikhu Shah, 87, a resident of Shastrinagar, Naranpura, was carried out in a procession, it was not a case of mourning, but of festivity as the body reached amid music and drum beats to Sola Medical College on SG Highway on Monday morning.     Shah became the third body donor from his family and it was his last wish that he be taken for the donation in a festive mood and that nobody shed tears on his death. As for him, it was the beginning of a new life where his body would be helpful for research by budding medical professionals.     Mayur Shah, Bhikhubhai’s sonin-law, told TOI that Shah had come in contact with Farsubhai Kakkad of Satkarya Sewa Samaaj and got to know about the eye donation and body donation activities. Impressed by the concept, Shah also spread message about the activities in his relatives after which six had pledged to donate their bodies.     “The first of the donors was his wife Subhadra, 87, who died in 2002. The second donor was his sister Shardaben, 75, who died in 2007. Both the bodies were donated to BJ Medical College. On Monday morning, Shah, who was suffering from old-age illness breathed his last. After completing the last rites, we contacted Farsubhai and Sola Medical College for the body donation,” said Mayur Shah.     Dr H R Jadav, head, anatomy department, Sola Medical College, said that it was a memorable occasion as more than 300 students and faculty members made human chain and paid respect to the deceased when the body was brought to the campus for donation. “Right from the entrance to the morgue, Shah was given honour of a special guest as relatives paid homage to him after prayers. We laud the spirit of the man who dedicated life for social work and even continued to contribute to social growth with the gesture,” he said. Farsubhai said that his organization so far has been instrumental in getting 286 body donations that come from various medical colleges in Ahmedabad and other cities of the state. “The scenario has undergone a sea change in the past one decade as more and more people are coming to the fore for the donation after we tell them about acute shortage of bodies in government medical colleges. We’ve also mooted a proposal of a dead body stock unit with the state government so that the bodies can be used by more students across the state,” he said. A precious gift Talking about the contemporary scenario of body donation in the state, Dr Jadav said that a medical college on an average needs 15 to 20 cadavers for introducing students to human anatomy and conducting trial surgeries before applying it to the patient. “Earlier, there were three medical colleges in the city that has now increased to five. Likewise, number of medical colleges in the state has seen manifold rise. Thus, we need around 100 bodies every year. In such a scenario, the initiative taken by Shah is commendable,” he said.