Chapter 38: The Science of Saving Lives
August 1983 – Singh Technologies Medical Division, Lucknow
The air after rain still smelled of wet soil and marigolds. Outside, the monsoon had softened the streets of Lucknow. But inside the clean white walls of Singh Technologies' newly expanded medical wing, something extraordinary was happening.
A quiet revolution in Indian healthcare.
And it hadn't begun with investors or headlines.
It had begun nine months earlier—with a conversation over dinner.
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The First Spark – Winter 1982
In early winter of 1982, Bharat's bua, Dr. Pooja, had sat with her family wrapped in a shawl, her voice soft but urgent.
"We are losing patients, Bhaiya," she had told Ajay. "Not because we don't care. But because we don't have the tools. Our monitors are failing. Power goes out. We have to guess what the body is doing."
Ajay had listened silently.
And Bharat—barely eight—had been watching her face. He understood something deep: this wasn't just about machines. This was about dignity.
That same night, Bharat had drawn his first design on the back of a newsprint:
> "A heartbeat box. Battery-powered. Hindi-speaking. Cost less than a scooter."
That idea would become Jeevan-1.
But the dream didn't stop there.
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A Team for Tomorrow
By January 1983, Singh Technologies had formed a dedicated medical research unit.
Engineers from the GameConsole team joined hands with retired hospital technicians and young MBBS graduates. Bharat attended every brainstorming session, asking questions that made even senior doctors pause.
> "Can we make a pain scale for patients who can't speak?"
"What if a nurse could press one button to see all vitals at once?"
"Why don't we color-code devices for quick use in emergencies?"
The lab worked day and night—not just on Jeevan-1, but on:
Jeevan Pulse: a pocket-sized pulse oximeter, with sound alerts and a visual pulse strip
Nirog Kit: a basic diagnostic toolkit for village doctors—thermometer, BP reader, and first-aid alerts
SanRachna Light: a portable LED surgical lamp with rechargeable batteries
ShabdBox: a Hindi-English speaking reminder device for medicine schedules (especially for elderly patients)
Bal Suraksha Pad: a neonatal breath monitor that triggered alert tones during infant sleep apnea events
They were not large machines.
But they were powerful because they were made for India.
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August 1983 – Feedback Summit Begins
After nine months of intense work, Singh Technologies held its first Medical Feedback Summit, inviting over 60 senior doctors, nurses, rural health officers, and hospital administrators from:
AIIMS Delhi
KGMU Lucknow
CMC Vellore
Dozens of rural clinics across Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Odisha
Each person was given hands-on access to the prototypes.
Instead of a grand stage, the event looked like a humble testing camp—tables filled with blinking boxes, heartbeat lines, soft beeps, and charts.
A senior pediatrician from AIIMS touched the Bal Suraksha Pad. "We've lost too many newborns to breath loss during sleep. This… could change our NICUs."
A tribal nurse from Chhattisgarh held the ShabdBox to her ear and gasped when it said in Awadhi:
> "Dawa le lijiye. Yeh aakhri dose hai."
("Please take your medicine. This is the final dose.")
Tears welled up in her eyes. "My grandmother… she will finally remember."
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Beyond Demonstration – True Dialogue
Unlike a typical tech showcase, this summit wasn't about praise. It was about listening.
Ajay and Pooja asked every guest:
> "Where does this device fail you?"
"What else do you need in your ward?"
"What would make this easier for your nurses or patients?"
And Bharat—standing in the corner with a clipboard—took down every suggestion.
One doctor from Mumbai asked:
> "Can you integrate two devices into one panel? Most wards don't have space."
Another from Jharkhand said:
> "Add solar panels to your lamp. Our area has no grid at night."
A woman doctor from Bihar added:
> "The Hindi voice is good. But what about Bhojpuri or Bengali? Patients panic when they don't understand alerts."
The team listened. They recorded everything.
> And the most repeated question was:
"When will you begin distribution?"
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Bharat's Silent Vision
That evening, as the sun lowered behind the neem trees, Bharat sat near the veranda, legs folded, sketching yet another improvement.
> "If doctors are asking for memory," he thought, "we'll need cheap EEPROMs."
"If solar is needed, we must make it light and foldable."
"If language is a barrier—what if devices spoke 10 Indian tongues?"
He wasn't thinking of success.
He was thinking of villages. Of children with fever. Of elderly women with heart murmurs. Of accidents on dusty roads where no doctor was nearby.
He whispered softly:
> "Let India never lose life for lack of light… or language… or tools."
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