Obituary of Dr. Khorshed Karai-Jones

KARAI-JONES: Khorshed, May 12, 1926 - September 26, 2012. Dr. Khorshed Karai-Jones formerly of Brandon, passed away in Ancaster, Ontario on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at the age of 86 years. She is lovingly remembered by daughter Ura Jones and son Allen Jones. Khorshed Karai-Jones was born Khorshed Karai in Calcutta, India in 1926. Khorshed was privately a devout Zoroastrian, the tenets of the religion being good thoughts, good words, good deeds. Zoroastrians worship the fire as a sign of purity, and fire is often seen alongside a portrait of their prophet, Zoroaster (sometimes spelled Zarathustra). Khorshed's older brother Godrej (Godi) was born in December 1922 and apparently a cold breeze was blowing through a window, and their mother Aimai refused to have another child in the hospital. So Khorshed was born at home four years later. Khorshed attended a Girl's School run by a Methodist missionary, Miss Collins, who became a lifelong mentor to Khorshed. She graduated Grade 12 in 1942, at age 16, and enrolled at Scottish Church College, preferring arts to science, and with no interest in being a doctor. However, she suffered from malaria at age 17 and this prompted her decision to become a doctor. She entered Calcutta Medical College at age 19. There were 100 spots for men, and 10 spots for women. Nine of the ten spots for women were for Hindus and Muslims, the remaining one spot for Zoroastrians and Jews. Miss Collins "fought tooth and nail" (Khorshed was fond of saying this) to get her that single spot. In 1953, at the age of 27, Khorshed was a passenger aboard the RMS Mooltan of the Peninsular & Orient Lines, for a 14-day journey from Bombay to Aden, through the Suez Canal, brief stop in Cairo (where she was sold a shirt with only the front by a crafty merchant), then to Marseille, through the Strait of Gibraltar, landing at the Tilbury docks near London, England. This was the start of her enduring love of travel. She was greeted by Godi who was training to become a cardiac surgeon. Khorshed began her surgical training at West Middlesex Hospital in 1953. That same year was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth and Khorshed and friends often walked to Buckingham Palace. As well, Sir Edmund Hilary climbed Mount Everest that year. It was still the heyday of the British Empire. At 28, Khorshed met her future husband Richard Jones. Both were living at Academy House, a residence for foreign students. He phoned her shortly after they met, pretending to be a police constable, asking her for a character reference for one Richard Jones, who was being questioned for a minor incident. Khorshed apparently gave a favorable description. Khorshed then moved to Edinburgh, where she did obstetrics at Elsie Inglis Hospital. She got good at breech deliveries and forceps deliveries. Richard would drive up from London on his scooter. Khorshed and Richard were married in 1963. Daughter Ura was born in London in 1964. In 1966, the three of them moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where Khorshed worked as an Obstetrician-Gynecologist and Richard as a bookkeeper for the East African Railways. Son Allen was born shortly after, in Nairobi. In 1969, the family moved to Canada, where there were more opportunities for a female doctor. Khorshed's brother, meanwhile, trained in cardiac surgery; he frequently worked alongside Mother Theresa, performing heart operations in her orphanage. He was a gentle soul, like Khorshed. Their mutual regret was the enormous geographic distance between them. In 1975, Khorshed began work as an O/G at Brandon General Hospital and the Western Medical Clinic, where she would work until age 77 out of love for her job, not of necessity. (Ours was probably one of the few households in Canada that had a life-size model of a female pelvis in the rec room.) Khorshed was tireless and delivered approximately 15,000 babies during her 45 years as an obstetrician. She seemed to know everyone and had an immense capacity to care for her patients. Khorshed would routinely work a 12-hour day and come home to quickly prepare a traditional Indian dish of 'kheema' (ground beef, onions, lots of spices), or 'acouri' (scrambled eggs and potatoes). Then she'd settle on the sofa with Lloyd Robertson on TV, and intermittently sleep through reruns of Canon, Columbo, or Streets of San Francisco. The family dog, Tumbler, would get walked somewhere in there, and during these little excursions on Cherry Crescent, Khorshed was fond of locating the three stars in the belt of Orion. Many a Sunday was spent in the kitchen of Dr. Aidun or Dr. Davloor, of whom Khorshed was so very fond. Khorshed was also very fond of Dr. Sivisankar and she kept the poem, Salutation to the Dawn, by the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, on her fridge after Sivi's funeral. Any entertaining at 11 Cherry Crescent was accompanied by mint tea, the leaves of which grew in the garden. Khorshed would happily declare, "Let's have a cuppa." Khorshed was an inveterate traveler, somewhat religiously attending the meetings of FIGO (Federation International Gynecology & Obstetrics). Some of her well-remembered conferences were in Mexico City, Tokyo, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, and Washington. Other travels included Singapore, Shanghai, Australia, Samoa, Cairo, Santorini, Paris, Zurich, Dubai, and St. Kitts. She and Richard would often have slide shows following these trips. One of Khorshed's favorite photos was of her and Richard kneeling in front of seals in the Galapagos Islands. During the slide show, Khorshed, ever the obstetrician, pointed out an obscure placenta in the background. Seals get pregnant, too. One of Khorshed's last trips was to Iran, specifically to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Persepolis where there are ancient Zoroastrian ruins. The flight was due to leave Bombay and Khorshed was without proper visas for India or Iran. She told the immigration officer, "Navsari is my land and I am a born Indian, why would I need a visa to enter India? And I am on my way to Iran to see my ancestral land". On a less biographic note, we shall forever miss our mother's hands. Her rough fingers were capable of both tenderness and great strength. Even as her Alzheimer's progressed inexorably during her 80s, her strong grip never waned. She was ever full of vigor in her best years, with a quiet kind of fortitude always concealed by her smile. She called all the hospital nurses, "Lassie," a term of endearment she acquired during her time in Scotland. When our dog was in decline, she fed him by hand, literally. And when Tumbler stopped drinking, she said, with softness and equanimity, "It's time." She, too, in her final days, stopped drinking water, and peacefully said her goodbyes. What we will share eternally is The Daffodils, the poem by William Wordsworth… "When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of dancing Daffodils; Along the Lake, beneath the trees, Ten thousand dancing in the breeze." **Goodbye Mama Bandur, Love Toto. Goodbye and God Bless, Love your Ura. ** Khorshed is survived by daughter Ura Jones of Vancouver, and son Dr. Allen Jones of Hamilton. If you wish to make donations, please forward them to the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation, 150 McTavish Ave. East, Brandon, MB, R7A 2B3. The service will be held at the Brockie Donovan Chapel, 332-8th Street, on Saturday, October 13, 2012 at 11:00 a.m.