Author: kirankumbhar

I am a medical doctor and health policy graduate, and currently PhD student at Harvard University (history of science). I write primarily about public health and the history and culture of medicine in India.
Culture & Life · History · History of Medicine · Religion

Why do some Indians like to obsessively make outrageous claims about ‘ancient Indian science’?

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I wrote the following as an answer to the question on Quora What were some of the global events that had the greatest impact on the history of India? I will write about a very obvious global event and its very under-appreciated impacts on India’s history. The event is British colonialism. The underappreciated impacts are… Continue reading Why do some Indians like to obsessively make outrageous claims about ‘ancient Indian science’?

History · History of Medicine · Medicine & Doctors

The time when ANYBODY could practise as a doctor in the United States

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I wrote this as an answer to a question on Quora, Has there ever been a time when doctors were widely mistrusted (as a whole)? It might be perhaps accurate to say that healers in general – or doctors as we would call them today – have never received complete, unadulterated trust from the public… Continue reading The time when ANYBODY could practise as a doctor in the United States

History · History of Medicine · Medicine & Doctors · Public health · Recommended movies, books etc.

The history of medicine in India: Some reading recommendations for doctors and other healthcare practitioners

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Over the last two years I have fortunately had the time and resources to read some excellent scholarship on the history of medicine and public health in India. These books and articles have immensely helped me to understand the historical beginnings and trajectories of the different aspects of healthcare in our country. For example, one… Continue reading The history of medicine in India: Some reading recommendations for doctors and other healthcare practitioners

Culture & Life

How to address the entrenched inequalities and injustices in India as an ordinary citizen

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I wrote the following as an answer to the question ‘What are the common forms of inequality prevailing in India‘ on the platform Quora: We have, in every city and town, and every village, a large section of people – of human beings, of folks like us – who do not possess even the basic… Continue reading How to address the entrenched inequalities and injustices in India as an ordinary citizen

Culture & Life · History · History of Medicine · Public health

The “oppressive” history of family planning and population control in India

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I wrote this for Swaddle on July 8 2018. Here is the original article. I based it primarily on the book ‘Reproductive Restraints: Birth Control in India, 1877-1947’ by historian Sanjam Ahluwalia of Northern Arizona University Below are some excerpts: Birth control began in India not as a free choice by individuals to manage their fertility, but as… Continue reading The “oppressive” history of family planning and population control in India