My Life as a
Psychiatrist: Memoirs and Essays
Ajita Chakraborty
Foreword by Ashis
Nandy
demy octavo hb 220pp
ISBN 81-85604-92-4 Rs 550 Published Feb 2010
At the age of 12 or 13, Ajita Chakraborty read Moner Khela (The Mind’s Games) by
Bijoylal Chattopadhyay, who interpreted the characters of many fictional
characters through psychoanalysis, resulting in a lifelong fascination and
commitment to psychiatry. As one of the first woman psychiatrists in India, now
in her eighties, Chakraborty looks back at her life and work, talking frankly about herself, her
unconventional family and the 'confusions' of her childhood that propelled her
to becoming a psychiatrist.
Qualified as a doctor, she sailed to England in 1952, to
further her medical education, taking courses in psychiatry and working in
British mental hospitals for almost ten years, and also obtaining
qualifications such as DPM and MRCP. She returned to India in 1960, where
modern psychiatry was still a fledgling, considered as subordinate to other medical
specializations. As one of the first woman in the field she faced considerable
hostility and opposition, and saw her dreams of setting up an advanced
department of psychiatry and elevating its then lowly status, fail. Indeed the
book throws considerable light on the sociology on medicine and discusses why
Chakraborty and her friends who had returned with medical qualifications gained
abroad were thwarted in their attempts to set up a modern health system. Of
considerable interest is Chakraborty's discussion on why psychiatry taught in
the West cannot be applied directly in other cultures, emphasizing the need and
significance of transcultural psychology in postcolonial societies.
The second part of the book offers a selection from her
essays, published in various distinguished journals, which are indeed an
essential part of the book as they illustrate in 'theoretical and concrete
terms what is dealt with anecdotally and personally in the memoirs'.
Born in 1926, Ajita Chakraborty specialized in psychiatry,
retiring as professor of the Department of Neurology and later director of the
Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER), Calcutta.
She was president of the Indian Psychiatric Society and is fellow, Royal
College of Psychiatrists, Edinburgh and London.
Ashis Nandy, one
of India’s most distinguished scholars, is a Fellow of the Centre for the Study
of Developing Societies, Delhi.
Published By:Stree
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