Apollo Hospitals’ The Smiles Behind The Mask: Celebrating Healthcare Heroes and Human Care
The book has been published by Harper Collins
Ritisha Tankha
We often take doctors and other healthcare staff for granted. Taking care of patients is their job, say most of us. Agreed. But a little appreciation hurts none. In fact, it goes a long, long way in motivating them to continue doing their ‘job’ with greater zeal.
Apollo Hospitals has done just that. It has come out with a book, The Smiles Behind The Mask, which tells the heartening stories of 50 such ‘saviours’. All about the angels in human form who have been helping those in need, The Smiles Behind The Mask is an easy and must-read for everyone.
Stories of Compassion Beyond Medicine
There are 50 short stories in all, each detailing how the healthcare team has supported patients through and through, even during the peak of the pandemic. The book highlights how they have not only provided medical care but also emotional support and encouragement, going out of their way to make patients feel better—be it by organising pujas, baby showers, or funerals. At times, staff members even pooled in money to buy books or musical instruments to aid recovery, and brought gifts for discharged patients to uplift their spirits.
Healing as a Collective Human Effort
The book also reminds healthcare professionals that patients undergoing treatment need more than just medical attention—they require holistic care and a positive environment. Healing, it emphasises, is a team effort involving not just doctors and nurses but also security staff, housekeeping teams, and ambulance drivers. Every member of the hospital ecosystem plays a role in ensuring complete recovery.
The Smiles Behind The Mask showcases the humane side of healthcare staff—something we all need to acknowledge. I have often read news about doctors being beaten up by family members of patients when something has gone wrong. I hope all those people read this book, if only to understand that a doctor’s path is not a bed of roses and that they always do everything possible to save a life.
There may be some bad fish, but the pond is generally full of good ones!
Ritisha Tankha is a Class 12 student of Army Public School, Noida
