The Doctor Who Heals With His Voice

Kashmir’s hospitals are often overwhelmed, yet in one Srinagar clinic, patients say healing begins with words and trust.

- Syed Majid Gilani

In the winter of 2011, when my mother’s blood sugar kept rising despite months of treatment, we were desperate.

She had been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and like many Kashmiri families, we had made rounds of government hospitals and private clinics.

Each doctor adjusted her medicines, ordered more tests, and told us to wait. Nothing seemed to work. She grew weaker, her diet grew stricter, and the uncertainty pressed heavily on all of us.

One day, a cousin suggested we visit a physician named Dr. Irfan Ali, an internist practicing in Srinagar. “He listens,” my cousin said.

That simple description felt a big relief. In a place where consultations are hurried, and where patients often leave with more confusion than clarity, the promise of a doctor who listened was enough for us to try.

That morning, we stepped into his modest chamber. My mother sat across from him, weary and anxious. What followed was not a typical consultation. Dr. Ali asked about her fears before he asked about her food. He heard her complaints in full, without interruption. He wrote her prescription neatly, every letter clear.

By the time we left, something in her had lifted. It was not only the medicine that mattered, but the attention.