Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Dr Jack: Calcutta's Pavement Doctor
Dr Jack: Calcutta's Pavement Doctor
Dr Jack: Calcutta's Pavement Doctor
Ebook258 pages3 hours

Dr Jack: Calcutta's Pavement Doctor

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

In the backstreets of Calcutta, shielded from the scorching sun by a tattered tarpaulin, mothers clutching semi-conscious, emaciated babies, and adults and children with missing or gangrenous limbs or suffering from tuberculosis or leprosy, queue in their hundreds to see Dr Jack Preger. On a stretch of pavement measuring two metres by thirty he runs a unique clinic. His patients are the destitute and the dispossessed, those who live and die on the streets. The clinic has survived for over a decade, in spite of official disapproval, and will soon be ministering to its 20,000th family.

Born and brought up in an orthodox Jewish family near Manchester, as a young adult Preger converted to Catholicism. In 1972 he qualified as a doctor and immediately left to set up a clinic in Bangladesh. Seven years later he was expelled after exposing a government-masterminded racket involving the illegal export of babies for adoption. Undeterred, he set off again the following year to begin his now legendary work in Calcutta.

Preger is a man of paradox. To the West Bengali authorities, he is an embarrassment and a nuisance, continually campaigning against official corruption, permanently awaiting trial for practicing without a licence, and vowing to fight the threatened closure of his clinic and resist deportation even at the risk of imprisonment. To the people of Calcutta, whose desperate suffering he struggles tirelessly to alleviate, he is a 'living saint'.

A self-confessed manic depressive, Preger relies on his work to sustain him. His two broken marriages - and two deserted children - bespeak a turbulent personal life which he finds difficult to reconcile with his reputation as a paragon of virtue. 'I am certainly no saint - nor have I ever been... A lot of the things that people imagine about someone like myself are just projected fantasies. The fact is that I happen to work with poor people. To me it's the most natural thing in the world.'
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 14, 2012
ISBN9781408836248
Dr Jack: Calcutta's Pavement Doctor

Read more from Jeremy Josephs

Related to Dr Jack

Related ebooks

Biography & Memoir For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Dr Jack

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Dr Jack - Jeremy Josephs

    dbook_preview_excerpt.html|˶F寠gUkQ7WKӲݺ7[+A H/QCM5{[#<_}jn}4y}zzgW};\pmL{s*W~p'p{{>)NM?W/P1 eV?c&Vm WoT ]_OՃosuW\}OȻK_z)_|ޟBjqc:3ojwzJ8Lǿc砚?Tk szh~?[yn+ꇘF} O '^&.n99S/:7s">f6dh6jc _MҞ0%qIK}GɎ%Uyx;ij87Q?W'>0jvcq+|&;c'r5#;_+EȚbq?ѝwO%I([[O?g\ZfA~HV z l۔b6ӂqu H  &zp&Y#/GXtvaAlX]k݆_ P}~|w"AƷ;c*%{ YF5I =4.YFxInɗ.q $_IrcW20xy3{h_OBڍ }Bxy^3Vj0a=̤k&j/hd٨hGwQ:o]>"6i|C㔚vpۓ:Y12ț4q[2{ 98]ogK <}WB^)0:sI(;X:NPW_}@ BXՓ7 a0EEDs\ G/Sȶ y2B~@j&zxM'-M8Bt3FH c":WZG%MW߷3!&8J.< Lai`7{K\YDfW} ʻ Es-v 1AU&2?z,@~S!B.=qcg!֝Ǿ0Kgby yN100PBhX |:it#R$v$a.3u3 3KEs1LAdn–A|& _!yY \N4񲃌/ (3?qɬxt;dv 2ҋ} R\tE@( ֧zշ0Dli\ь2.%@”S~'O>dy5a U\53FT 2RJ :M5O/zndrqm&]| Xrj FZ]aKɕF_9KNBOA feWsx `!x~˵gb) ",XPsf}e GiBI@gy?R&/sӎCNϯ}"vշ5"ѧ; ?CY|Q/z>b_I&~7h~BH xxykp:\Zޛ;\'>8@3xER+_%2SXN=WHHllmZmO<[MnJK9sCڬ`%!ŵx4. aO0c}gD68R`؉MoBp` oِ W =NU% a \iK&U Q5S/ˬi  $pL?]RŠePR#3ÅU\٫pPA5Z'48{P j1>li'[khd#|5Y&K#գ|W(;_ׯ\i JwqUȆ䎖~,ɻnHJ5+agۤU{El0.kKydp{샐v4dօԃ;u39"^u i;VZckcTCI+=0J,xp~Y~gVT[ տϪ=XM5-zͺ2| H/$D0C<>]58hsKHE]!?"+B&JhRBٳW%\a3C9jP N[l^OC2|X"hAXڑEX\ؼҊ.MxzAQ ʝ>+9b! CRԉ.W7QZUFϯ۟Q2f[3gpzgYIY = p(X<{~Y?йVz# V:J!NnQ1g; 3^bxU\iv!%jMDj= "JM1*^tX#r7mj@t\')D )h-BQ0Tl wϞ~C{c9$vD>BADD RDB.#T{c8xG3#躎[0e5+b/Ó#+Ix>3q$"6icL- Dy3۹@ԦRl+NM 295xfԜ1Lnc>~A -k@z-_[e KyK?{q%:&Hlkٳ+Qz5s_ҫ^Ⱥ%6s`SY%B$ID M]rfXy^z(+jZFA̳ I6V<k`,X45 ^S Pw< iC$nx뭕W\^¼]ʵL є9z,lm^˜j5" K/j DZ`eR,{c{ a2X I[mayD9ゐVgVUjo&ڪxF ^+⋄ܙh.c96T$0J:0A!?faF+VyX&x[쯂ڸX 'KݒZ3FdҰW m^a.o.  )!]ښjb dgXw LǺ!@RH/{8Z(]oot&'Z[.H,ތ=9Kkũ6Q9POJ _Iw7bc ^EVP*6ydujێ@붨|$]o]n K>W x3\mo:K%{6 A:Mqpjվq薎)Gf{+;:KV-l?3CEl-%ȩ *!//Ԯ n2$$uv ho~\f = 2Q3*a棲16SH)/$8 uB=5Ap:7}Dys#B 71#+ X!(Eӎ;T}?SKWrK5c2bTUjr kYXH WoMlP0LolTG<$3;]aH ^?ZWDar;~r >[hCm%jWJv8b3G,t͚y9!?hoyV)}s|O: ;ʉarJj@)B$RD2;y"mhMidSRII<+U-9_m#ʁy BYZױ.)UI #2=+ANeqq}D%W J}o3*ϮiJXk[xY*s0{1@I5_ 2d1k-XhJַ˜H-#.RZa'\Van_pV D + `_Nyl4Xn4멠PǣպJjٌhMUX-AG?!y@.,Q HN$U)ˉY݈\ nDu8yxkAt([ ߆Xt6FDOq[\:ererČmbkL9/Y4o%9ׂ`S [<Ą8(M]ܮxhNvUsmg,[JDm?m4/XUFG09#fBHēkLQD[81.!ARf@& ִAPa댞\q&Plg c$H 6F`Ʀ!{̀2U0/s8u:ޫ9<+^6{ޠe8Z0V[? HWs޻ɵ<1 OyPkXCxn5gzuAQo%څWuTks!I rǨWZ\FhaX| y;g6jb 0AqJPXXG &,ف縬AHV5lOJw#iIIxH$WEu-?hk5;PJw՟㲮bJP+^ZϹ{9sXWkGӈWڼ Wh9@0]/ U OW7AM\'Kb8;F{'20E(5Se/g|xiqA=q'_Ϊqv7*ȲÆM҄dUV5[aΆ?_skWB'jVA9/ F-or5RP$\ r1BrŰUsFsM3ONFh)fnPCE3fP#߲^|5F >c9whC' ʼnsq)K$MEh(Tr Ng,1*|RuV:C, _R\'np=rF@}H%Q|Qem+8\+_)4rkf[+ƍ\cwWKt(b U3C` yi'knAXe]|΃ &䲡RX=ZLquf-|3q#@j|nf3Y?vKa¨~|u$@w&|a>F)/ِi"[53![%qCE94cK8L_6-m(A# >zak0dz;jTDxu<͔ڸB^C_,\X 8TX~)Y=sIP n\6rr ̿!6Vnv*[q i=?E]1 vu{np!eXVPNYQ;`X%64x 3M3q`7-0O'2rPQXT1\Rye{UL}7.kfoXxtYum(سe3'c94xjeȵfDbuu?rtgczV!kll&8uW#!|?PXa?xJ&{nZp,Rz.iZZ1fRfmT b`M0$;!RԨ!Yw(Nv!f;kSP<T1;d[ZF0.O(Ty$kA{THcAKa2Cs\9{Z޴92E'G9Wjum0ʶzXݤΗ+XV q+O%/翞 l2!v8 `s37_0Iy1W n>d ӮFěLw+5سhu1K>TtiljFNZ؊b)jsyKg; kLD>*c|&[E޶ͻ6dl#!-6f[Ē|!Ouj-pXX!j8Ȓ:Q\gÎ9DĔ)=[ZT ۣZesf^E*xtE!q[Dj<ZE.'a.㢴rc!VssQJA(va{ulؓɝwnR~ɤdK d;|W/kXtpoVAa$ cFQ_P=Oյ.q/zMhɹ2״^ LEgG3=)yxOI)}YKƶ Q 3/$@~ WBL1+h D#̟Ul9 sAvTBǤ/Xw5ڽKj`58Z]+)xq8ı9~hjҧti2#TRn֖'5QdT? *R.N
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1