The other side of pain

Jerry Pinto's real-life stories from palliative patients are delicately woven like a web

- BY JAIRAM N. MENON

The last person you would expect to write a book on palliative care is the author who had earlier shot to fame with a bestseller on the Bollywood star known by her single, unforgettable name—Helen. Delving into the guilty delights of watching a cabaret artiste sizzle on screen hardly qualifies a writer to handle a deeply sensitive medical and sociological subject. But, Jerry Pinto, known to pull off surprises, has pulled off yet another with A Good Life: The Power of Palliative Care.

Most of us have hazy notions of palliative care. It is a chapter in medical care that we quietly skip. Such indifference has bred idle and unfounded speculation. Palliative care has to do with slow and lingering death, doesn’t it? Actually, the opposite is true, and that’s what makes A Good Life such a significant book. It tells us, palliative care is, in fact, life-affirming.