Durga, the Indian Crab Syndrome and Depression : The Life and Times of Subhash Mukhopadhyay

On June 19, 1981, when Namita Mukhopadhyay, who had an honours degree in history from Oxford University and worked at St Agnes Convent at Howrah as a teacher, returned home, she had to witness the most horrific sight of finding the hanging body of her husband Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay, with a note that painfully stated “I can’t wait everyday for a heart attack to kill me.”
Years later, at the 3rd National Congress on Assisted Reproductive Technology held in Calcutta on February 8, 1997, Dr Anand Kumar would make an appeal that her husband should be credited posthumously for creating India’s first test-tube baby.
Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay, the inspiration behind director Tapan Sinha’s National Award winning film “Ek Doctor ki Maut (1991)” with actors like Pankaj Kapur and Shabana Azmi, was an example for an exemplary talent in the field of medicine.

Dr. Mukhopadhyay, the son of a doctor, was interested in innovative gynaecological surgery from the very initial days of his life as a medical student in the National Medical College in Kolkata. He then went on to do his PhD in reproductive endocrinology in UK.
His story encompasses so many innovative research ventures, such as the very first use of human menopausal gonadotrophins (hMG) to stimulate ovaries to produce extra eggs.
Dr. Anand Kumar had stated that Subhash was “far ahead of his time in successfully using an ovarian stimulation protocol before anyone else in the world had thought of doing so.”
Dr. Mukhopadhyay’s most ground breaking, yet sadly also the least acclaimed research was his contribution to in- vitro fertilization (IVF) in India, with just the help of some general apparatus and a refrigerator in his Kolkata apartment. Yet, this procedure was considered superior according to some when compared to even the one used by the English scientists RG Edwards and Patrick Steptoe, who were responsible for the birth of the world’s first ever test-tube baby, just 67 days prior to the birth of Durga, now Kanupriya Agarwal- India’s first successful baby created out of IVF on 3rd October 1978 in Kolkata.

He had achieved this feat, within a year of returning to India, after joining a team, comprising of Sunit Mukherji and Saroj Kanti- a cryobiologist and gynaecologist respectively. Unlike his English colleagues, he had used the innovative technique of cryopreservation to preserve the human embryo. And this method, is currently the preferred procedure of medically assisted reproduction worldwide.
Yet, his story never made headlines.
When I had come across his life a few years back, I’d gone through several articles online that spoke about the deteriorated living conditions of his home, where his wife lived alone, bed ridden.
The couple had no children, and Mrs. Mukhopadhyay had been living a lonely life in her last days at a south Kolkata flat where the NGO ‘India’s Smile‘ and Dr Subhash’s friend and professor Sunit Mukherjee had been taking care of her.

She was heart broken that recognition came from as far as Brazil, but nobody from home had bothered to applaud or acknowledge her husband’s achievements. Neither did the central nor state government check on her.
“She was so ill. Whatever money she had was mostly spent on her treatment. The government conferred so many awards on so many people, but Dr Mukhopadhyay or his wife got nothing.” Sunit Mukherjee, who used to look after the family and a former professor of biochemical engineering at Jadavpur University had to say regarding the matter.
“Somebody asked my brother-in-law why he had no children when he brought joy to millions of childless couples,” her younger brother told The Indian Express. “My brother-in-law said the space under the lamp always remains dark. He was 50 when he died and my sister was about 45, so they could have had a child. Why they chose not to have one remains a mystery to us.”

But what went wrong? Why was this achievement not celebrated?
I remember a lecturer of mine, telling me once that when it comes to research, humans turn into crabs, pulling each other down. They don’t succeed themselves, neither do they allow their peers to move forward.
Dr Mukhopadhyay’s success was turned into a controversy. The West Bengal government set up an enquiry committee to investigate his breakthrough in 1978. The committee had gone on to conclude that Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay’s claims were fraudulent, leading way to ridicule and attempts at calling his works as bogus.
“(The West Bengal government) kept saying that he hadn’t (had) sufficient documentation. What else did they want?” Dr. Mukherjee said. “He couldn’t handle the politics. He was a scientist, not a lawyer. The committee that condemned Dr Mukhopadhyay’s procedure reportedly comprised a gynaecologist, a psychologist, a physicist and a neurologist—none of whom had any knowledge of modern reproductive technology.”
Dr. Mukherjee has edited Architect of India’s First Test-Tube Baby (2001)—a book that chronicles all of Dr Mukhopadhyay’s work.

Parents of Durga were reluctant to come forward, afraid that their personal and sex life would be made into a mad media frenzy. Recently when Kanupriya spoke up, she addressed this issue.
“Imagine the degree of stigma associated with being childless in 1970s India that prompted even my otherwise conventional parents to undergo what was at that time a high-risk experiment” she said.
After many uncomfortable exchanges with the press, that included a lot of intrusive and disrespectful questions, her parents had completely hidden themselves and their child from the public glare. And who could blame them for it?

The injustice towards Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay however didn’t stop there. Not only was he denied permission to travel to Japan so he could discuss his work with the scientists who had invited him, but also as if to humiliate him further, they had transferred him to the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Kolkata, in June 1981, leaving him no more options for further research. His career path had ended and what had seemed like his best work so far, had come back biting him in the neck.
He didn’t see any other way out of this, except ending his life.

His colleague, Dr Mukherji had to begrudgingly witness the rest of the world get recognition for their wonderous techniques to achieve the feat that he and Dr. Mukhopadhyay had already reached.
He finally had had enough when Dr. Kumar, the former director of the Institution of Research in Reproduction at the ICMR, collaborated with gynaecologist Indira Hinduja and managed to succeed in the widely publicized birth of Harsha Chawda in Mumbai on 6 August 1986 using the IVF technique.
Dr. Mukherji approached Dr Kumar and handed over Dr. Mukhopadhyay’s handwritten notes, diary and other scientific documents.
Being in a powerful position, Dr. Kumar knew what had to be done. He not only brought Dr. Mukhopadhyay’s contributions to light, but also exonerated the fraud charges that were filed against him. In 2002, thanks to his efforts, ICMR and the rest of the country finally recognised Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay’s work.

To be honest, this was definitely a difficult article to write. We’re all way too familiar with the emotions associated with not receiving enough credits for our efforts. And for Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay, it was only ridicules and backlash.
And this topic of discussion involves suicide and probably even depression, so it’s a hard subject to talk about.
Maybe, if someone would have talked to him about it and given one small encouragement at some point through all these rocky roads that he had to walk through all alone, maybe he would have been alive to see India finally acknowledge him for the talent he was.
But, I need to make it absolutely clear that he’s not to blame for how he wanted things to go. There are many people, at whom the fingers are pointed, and I’m sure their sins won’t be washed away without consequences, but his decision to end things was his own to make and all we can do is marvel at all his creation and simultaneously feel the pang of sorrow that our world didn’t deserve his contributions.
And at this point, I’m expected to talk about tackling setbacks and ways to come out victorious without succumbing, so this article might set an example to all those struggling with a similar mindset currently. But I will do nothing of that sort. I’m nobody to preach and I’m aware that our battles are different. My few words of motivation might make a difference for a few, but I will not resort to surface- talk and rather request all those who are going through a tough time, to ask for help. I’ve mentioned a few links and phone numbers at the end of this article and I hope you, the reader find them of some use. I’m aware, how those spirals of self hate and anxiety feels like to some extent and it’s definitely a dark place to be. I know that it’s not an easy thing to talk about.
But I wish you’d try to push through. Meditate. Pray. And keep on giving. Even though, admittedly it’s a selfish world out there, yet find ways to be of service to everyone less blessed than you.

And like the verse 47 of the 2nd Chapter in Gita says, “You have the right to work only, but never to its results. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.”
So stay strong, and trust me when I say this, but this too shall pass.

Suicide Prevention Helpline:

Aasra Helpline Number:
+91 98204 66726
Fortis stress helpline:
mentalhealth@fortishealthcare.com
Helpline Number: +9183768 04102
Parivartan:
parivarthanblr@gmail.com.
Helpline Number: +91 76766 02602

If you’d wish to speak to a therapist:

Download the Wysa app, where you can check for consultation and/or talk to a chatbot and organize your mind space:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bot.touchkin
Mindscape- psychological wellness center, based in Bangalore:
https://www.themindscapethoughtcare.com/

– Varsha Hebbar