Bareilly-based orthopedic surgeon Brijeshwar Singh presents a typical image of a doctor who prescribes medicines and operates on patients.
Beneath the conventional persona, however, lies a multifaceted personality who combines a passion for medicine with a love for the arts, specifically the theatre.
Singh has now penned a a collection of short stories that draws from his medical field experiences. Launched in the city recently by Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi, the book "In and Out of Theatres" is a memoir of real people and intended as a gift to the doctor's patients.
"When I joined medical school in 1986, I thought I would lose interest in cinema and to some extent I was right. Time being one of the factors. But later on I realised that these films have enriched my life and taught me what I did not learn in clinical practice.
It taught me about craving, love, emotions, that my conventional medical college could not teach me. It made me realise that it was not merely an act but my life also," says the doctor.
"Later, I lost interest in films of this era and was inclined towards theatre which were more meaningful and addicted to my mind and soul. Plays like 'Tumhari Amrita' perpetually bonded me," says Singh who organises a 13-day Theatre Fest in Bareilly every year.
Singh says 'In and Out of Theatre' comprises of his experiences inside the operation theatre and dips as well into the theatre called life.
"The operation theatre is my 'karm bhoomi' and I achieved the best by involving myself personally and this got me the reputation in my city. But it did not satisfy my soul. I wanted to share pain and emotion of my people, my patients, my acquaintances," says Singh.
"I am also a passionate threatre person. Like my operating room is my 'karm bhoomi', promoting Indian theatre is my soul. I had to take my profession and passion together," he says.
Although it is his debut, Singh says he has no great expectations of the book being a best seller.
"I do not have any delusion that I will be a popular writer because my primary job is surgery, to operate on the patients. But I have some rudimentary observation that can be converted into a write-up which has soul and uniqueness of its own," says Singh.
Being a doctor, Singh meets a number of patients every day who have their own stories. The duties of a doctor, the long working hours and sometimes the dramatic, heart-wrenching patient encounters has led up to each story.
