We preserve various things to keep the memory of our loved ones.

Published: 24th August 2022 06:08 AM   |   Last Updated: 24th August 2022 06:08 AM   |   A+ A  A-

IDUKKI: We preserve various things to keep the memory of our loved ones. Strangely in Mullakkanam, a village located in the Bison Valley panchayat of Idukki, the residents have preserved a labour bed to keep the memory of a hospital that had met the medical needs of a community for more than a quarter century when there were no roads, electricity or transportation facilities.

The 50-year-old wooden bed is a witness to nearly 25,000 childbirths that took place in the hospital between 1970 and 2000. Even after the hospital was sold off by the end of the 90s, the man who took over the building to start a coffee production unit decided to preserve the labour bed and the hospital in original form upon understanding the residents’ attachment to them.

A K Joseph, a Pala-based paediatrician who was then a general practitioner, had started the hospital in the hill town in 1972. “During those times, soon after an MBBS degree is completed, medical practitioners chose to serve a local community in rural areas. Mullakkanam was the area I had preferred to provide my service,” Joseph said.

Joseph started off from a rented building and soon constructed his hospital in Mullakkanam. “Since power, road and transportation facilities were not available in the high-range areas, the hospital was the only solace for thousands of people settled in panchayats under Udumbanchola and Devikulam taluks of Idukki. The hospital also gave better treatment facilities for pregnant women who have been depending on midwives during childbirth for generations,” he said.

Joseph recollected that in the absence of power connection, he had conducted C-section (caesarean delivery) for hundreds of women under the light of ‘petromax’ pressurised paraffin lamps. During the course of his service at the hospital, not a single case of medical negligence from his side was reported. Following the setting up of the hospital, Mullakkanam turned into a mini town with shops and business establishments coming up and buses starting special services through the place.

However, by 1984, Joseph took a break from his service and went for higher studies. Meanwhile, several private and government hospitals came to the nearby areas. Joseph also started a children’s hospital in Pala which gradually resulted in the closure of the hospital in 1998.

Baby Mathew, who took over the hospital to start a coffee production unit, understood the emotional attachment of residents and decided to keep them as a memory while conducting his business at the single-storeyed building.

“The bed and the hospital have been preserved in their original state. The town’s younger generation may not be aware of the hospital that served a community for a long time, but for the old settlers, it is a historical building that resulted in the formation of their town, and whoever passes through the route never misses to make a sneak peek into the rooms and the bed,” he said.

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