Padma Shri awardee Dr M. R. Rajagopal has spent a lifetime caring for patients in pain. One of the first medical professionals in the country to study and practise palliative care in a significant way, he is the founder of Pallium India, a palliative care NGO. In Walk with the Weary: Life-changing Lessons in Healthcare, Dr Rajagopal knits his own experiences as a doctor with stories of the unique lives of his many patients, asserting that medicine can bring comfort and security to those at their most vulnerable and provide them the opportunity to not only live healthy lives but to die with dignity.
Divided into seven sections, the book begins with a young Rajagopal’s first encounters with death and pain and his entry into the field of medicine before taking us through his journey into palliative care. The reader is invited to follow along as he learns, by listening to his patients’ stories, how to treat the patient and not just the disease. A masterclass in how to care for others deeply and compassionately no matter who they are, Walk with the Weary is simultaneously the story of Dr Rajagopal’s life and his calling and the world of Indian palliative care.