Kolkata | Published on: November 1, 2011

Here is a small train that whistles through the sprawling 16-acre cancer hospital, Cancer Centre Welfare Home & Research Institute (CCWHRI) at Thakurpukur, Kolkata.

'Children Express' train at CCWHRI

CCWHRI was created by a great visionary, the late Dr Saroj Gupta, and is currently managed by his sons, Mr Anjan Gupta (an architect) and Dr Arnab Gupta (a surgical oncologist).

Many may consider this train, or the fountain in the children’s ward a luxury, but the message that they give to anyone who walks in to the hospital is,

“We care for you as a person”

Fountain at CCWHRI

People with cancer already have the disease and treatment (with all their psychosocial implications) to grapple with. Why must they also be in a grey, bleak environment?

Even if all hospitals do not have amusement trains and fountains, at least we can learn from them enough to think not only of disease and treatment but also of the windows and the trees?

Simply wheeling someone out in the evening to be among some greenery and flowers may do a lot of good to the human spirit!

Comments are closed.