Donating service

In a brief interview with Parsiana after the event Drs Mehroo and Minu Patel were keen to promote nursing as a career option for Parsi youth, both male and female. Their concern was born of the question of reserving seats for Parsis at the College. "In Illinois nurses work part time and (study) for MSc and PhD degrees. They work at the same level as doctors do... In the US there are no water-tight compartments in education,” he noted, citing the example of a nurse who completed her PhD in nursing and went on to acquire an MD in obstetrics and gynecology. "There is more to nursing than giving bedpans!” says Minu who believes that the time to create interest is at the 9th and 10th standard levels in school. "If explained well, our kids could pick it up. In the past we had excellent Parsi nurses. If you plant the seeds now, they may fructify in 10 to 15 years,” he adds.

The Patels have already targeted Yasmin Charna, matron of the boarding section of the Bai Avabai Petit Girls’ School in Bandra, as they believe several successful nurses in the past had emanated from that institution. Mehroo referred to a program in the US where students volunteered to work in hospitals during their holidays. Though the program there has been discontinued because of certain legal implications, Mehroo noted that it was "a good way to introduce the youth to healthcare careers.” In 1956-59 Mehroo used to volunteer to teach nurses at Bombay’s B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital, noted Minu.

Minu himself has been teaching biometrics in Chicago to enable the nurses to understand statistical techniques in research oriented studies. Dean Joan Shaver of the UIC College of Nursing intends to arrange a program to honor Minu, now 77, Mehroo tells us. While on this visit, Minu has been trying to get 10 more computers for the Bel-Air College by appealing to various industrialists. One of his targets was IT professional Urwaksh Medhora of Ahmedabad. At the time we spoke, two were already in the pipeline, he noted. He spoke of a program called BBBLACKBOARD@UIC which is a procedure for teaching through the Internet. However, though Bel-Air has the broadband facility, the program may be too expensive for Bel-Air to afford, he conceded.

The Patels’ other concern has been to find subsidized transportation of medical books from Chicago to Panchgani. The books are donated by UIC teachers who often jettison the older editions when presented with new ones by the publishers. They say that Porus Dada­bhoy of Chicago has been collecting these books and journals and packing them in boxes which Tomy’s cousin picks up and sends to India. "Donation as money is fine but it can also come in the form of service,” declare the service oriented couple.