Vadodara: She may be her family’s pride. But for Dr Tehsim Memon, the first doctor from a conservative Muslim family, her biggest strength came from her mother Shamim. If Tehsim stood rock solid while handling Covid-19 duties at SVP Hospital all through March pandemic, Shamim was the proverbial Gibraltar behind her girls.
The semi-literate woman fought her own battles while ensuring that her two daughters turn doctors – one a doctorate in academics and the other in the field of medicine.
Notwithstanding changing houses 10 times, fighting poverty and social dogmas with the same grit, the determined mother ensured the girls walked all the way to the podium she envisaged — one of dignity and empowerment.
“My journey of being a doctor started in childhood,” said Tehsim, recalling the family’s collective tryst with financial and social constraints while realizing this coveted dream. “My mother never wanted us to live a blinkered existence. She always sought to make us feel liberated, independent and get exposed to a cosmopolitan atmosphere, She inspired us to think beyond the box, literally,” said the MBBS from Baroda Medical College who is currently pursuing MD in Ahmedabad.
Shamim was the youngest of eight siblings and could not study owing to conservative restrictions and societal ills like early marriage. Even Tehsim’s father couldn’t fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor as his father died early. But, both parents were sure, they would live their desires through their children. “My parents decided to make one of us a doctor. Somehow, I imbibed that dream as mine too,” said Tehsim.
We had to sell off our house and keep moving from house to house — sometimes for money, other times for jibes — recollects the Fatehgunj-resident, and why? Because Shamim did not want her elder daughter, Tosifa, who got enrolled in a little-known homeopathy college after Class XII, ended up facing a fate like hers.
Shamim decided to send 17-year-old Tosifa to the United States to study. “It was difficult for all of us. Also, none in the family had foreign exposure and the society also did not accept the decision of sending a young girl to study abroad alone,” said Tehsim.
“My father Aziz Memon ran a small shop in Mandvi then. It is only now that we are financially stable,” said the proud daughter, adding that her father owns a men’s garment showroom in Raopura today.