The Cap Badges and the Insignia of the British Royal Medical Corps and the Indian Army Medical Corps reveal the Rudi-Grant Connection. The Indian Army Medical Corps was created from the British Royal Army Medical Corps.
In 1965, while I was a student of Human Anatomy at Kurnool Medical College, I had the opportunity to know about Dr. J. C. B. Grant (1886-1973), the author of Grant’s Atlas of Anatomy. The 5th Edition of his Atlas was published in 1962 and was available in India in our Medical College Library.
Born in Loanhead (south of Edinburgh) in 1886, Grant studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and graduated with an M.B., Ch.B. degree in 1908. While at Edinburgh, he worked under the renowned anatomist Daniel John Cunningham. Grant became a decorated serviceman of the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War before moving to Canada. He established himself as an ‘anatomist extraordinary’ at the University of Toronto, publishing three textbooks that form the basis of Grant’s Anatomy. The textbooks are still used in anatomy classes today, and made unforgettable memories for those who found themselves in his classes nearly a century ago. One of Grant’s many accomplishments was establishing a division of histology within the department.
As a medical student, I used Grant’s Atlas of Anatomy, the seminal work of Scottish-born Dr. John Charles Boileau Grant, who would become the chair of Anatomy at the University of Toronto in 1930 and retired in 1965.
Students continue to use Grant’s textbooks today, and for the more artistic anatomist there’s even a Grant’s Anatomy Coloring Book, published in 2018.
At the University of Toronto, Dr.McMurrich, Chair of Anatomy was succeeded as chairman in 1930 by Dr. John Charles Boileau Grant. Dr. Grant wrote three text books, of which “An Atlas of Anatomy” (published in 1943) rapidly gained international prominence and is still, one of the most widely used anatomical atlases in the world. It is now known as “Grant’s Atlas of Anatomy” and is in its tenth edition. The atlas was based on a series of elegant dissections done either by Grant or by others under his supervision. Many of these dissections are currently housed in Grant’s Museum at the University of Toronto.
The Rudi-Grant Connection is about knowing the man, the building blocks and the structural units and organization of the human body. To defend the human existence, the Rudi-Grant Connection lays the emphasis on knowing the person who is at risk apart from knowing the agent posing the risk.
THE IDENTITY OF MULTICELLULAR HUMAN ORGANISM:
Daniel John Cunningham was born on 15 April 1850 in Scotland. After his initial schooling at his home town, Crieff, he took up the study of medicine at the University of Edinburgh and passed with honours. He is best known for the excellent series of dissection manuals, namely Cunningham’s Dissection Manuals. Cunningham’s Manual of Practical Anatomy has provided me the learning tools to know and understand Man’s External and Internal Reality and its Identity as described by Cells, Tissues, Organs,and Organ Systems.
I learned about the human body while dissecting the body in a systematic manner. The Manual of Practical Anatomy which guides us through this entire process was published in England. The author Dr. Daniel John Cunningham prepared the Manual while dissecting cadavers of British or Irish citizens. He had never encountered cadavers of Indian citizens. At Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India, where I was a student, the Department of Anatomy obtains dead bodies from Government General Hospital Kurnool and most of the deceased are the poor, illiterate, and uneducated people of that region. None of the deceased had the chance to know this man called Cunningham and Cunningham had no knowledge about the existence of these people who arrive on our dissection tables. But, as the dissection of the human body proceeds, inch, by inch, we recognize the anatomical parts as described by Cunningham. The manual also lists some anatomical variations and we very often exchange information between various dissection tables and recognize the variations mentioned. The dissections also involve slicing the organs and studying them, both macroscopically, and microscopically. We did not miss any part of the human body. So what is the Identity of this Human person or Human subject? How does the living Human organism maintain its Identity and Individuality? Apart from the Cultural Traditions of India, several Schools of Religious Thought claim that the Human Individual and its Identity is represented by Human Soul. Where does this soul exist in the human body? What is the location if the soul is present in the living person? Does man have a soul? How does the human organism acquires Knowledge about its own structures and the functions they perform?
What is my relationship with myself?
What is my relationship with myself ?
I have forgotten all other relationships.
How many mirrors that I have looked into, yet
I have forgotten my face.
The above lines are an attempt by me to translate into English the ‘ghazal’ titled “MUJH SE MERA KYA RISHTA HAI” by Mumtaz Rashid. The ‘ghazal’ is included in the music audio cassette (11/98), “RUBAYEE“ (Volume 1). The singer is India’s famous ghazal singer PANKAJ UDHAS. The cassette was released by Music India, Polygram India Ltd. The cassette includes “Rubayees” of Hakim Omar Khayyam translated into Indian language Urdu by Janab Zameer Kazmi and Janab Irteza Nishat. I would particularly invite all Farsi speakers to listen to these songs and appreciate the connection between Persian language and Urdu. This melodious Indian language Urdu represents a bridge that connects the people of IRAN with the people of INDIA.
Mujh Se Mera Kya Rishta Hai Lyric
Imaan ko bekaar na kar du ya rab
Is jeene ko dushwar na kar du ya rab
Is khauf se har shaam ko pee leta hu
Main khud se bhi inkaar na kar du ya rab
Peene de mujhe bhar de mera paimana
Duniya to hain ek uljha hua afsaana
Jab tak mujhe maalum na ye ho jaaye
Main aaya kahan se hu
Kahan hain jaana
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Har ek rishta bhul gaya
Itne aaine dekhe hain
Apna chehra bhul gaya
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Ab to ye bhi yaad nahi hai
Farq tha kitna dono me
Ab to ye bhi yaad nahi hai
Farq tha kitna dono me
Us ki baatein yaad rahi
Us ki baatein yaad rahi
Aur uska lehja bhul gaya
Itne aaine dekhe hain
Apna chehra bhul gaya
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Pyasi dharti ke hothon per
Mera naam nahi to kya
Pyasi dharti ke hothon per
Mera naam nahi to kya
Main wo baadal ka tukda hu
Main wo baadal ka tukda hu
Jis ko dariya bhul gaya
Itne aaine dekhe hain
Apna chehra bhul gaya
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Duniya wale kuch bhi kahein
Rashid apni majburi hain
Duniya wale kuch bhi kahein
Rashid apni majburi hain
Uski gali jab yaad aayi hain
Uski gali jab yaad aayi hain
Ghar ka rasta bhul gaya
Itne aaine dekhe hain
Apna chehra bhul gaya
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Har ek rishta bhul gaya
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Har ek rishta bhul gaya
Mujh se mera kya rishta hai
Writer(s): Pankaj Udhas, Mumtaz Rashid, Omar Khayyam<br>Lyrics
Who am I? From where I have arrived? Where am I going?
Human existence raises some fundamental questions about individual’s identity, the purpose in life and the nature of human relationships. I love Hakeem Omar Khayyam for he had asked himself these questions. Does the image I see in the mirror describe my true identity ? Unless I define my identity, how it would be possible to describe my relationship with others. If I do not know as to who I am, why should I contemplate on issues such as my purpose in life and my destination? Self-Knowledge is the key to answer questions about existence.
Sir, Who are you?
JAGADGURU’ Sri Adi Shankaracharya answers the above question. In six verses described as ” NIRVANA SHATKAM “, he states what he is not and as to what he could be.
I have no death, I have no fear; I do not belong to a category, the differences that we accrue as a result of caste, creed or occupation do not belong to me; I have no father, I have no mother and in fact, I am not born (it implies that I am an eternal entity), I have no relatives, I have no friends, I have no ‘GURU’, and I am not a disciple of anyone. But, I am the reflection of the image of ‘SAT+CHIT+ANANDA, I am that SHIVA and I am SHIVA.
I read that response from SHANKARA to acquire a sense of direction in my search for my identity. If I know, who I am, I could live in a relationship with myself. First of all, I need to forget that image, that reflection that I may have seen in the mirror.
The Rudi-Grant Connection 