Love in the Time of Appendicitis: A Valentine’s Day Story from Kolkata

In the late 1950s, a medical emergency at a Kolkata hospital quietly set the stage for a love story that would last a lifetime.

Sandhya Rani Dey was then a third-year History Honours student at Scottish Church College, living in the girls’ hostel while preparing for the civil services. One winter night, she developed severe abdominal pain. Her hostel mates alerted the matron, who administered Aqua Ptychotis and called the resident doctor. After examining her, the doctor advised immediate surgery for appendicitis.

Her father, Sudhir Chandra Dey, happened to be in the city and took her to Mayo Hospital in Posta. Sandhya Rani speaks with pride about her father — a freedom fighter arrested in the Khulna Conspiracy Case of 1910 and imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in the Andamans. He had raised his daughter to be fearless and even trained her in lathi khela.

It was on the morning of the surgery that Sandhya Rani first met the young house surgeon, Dr. Anil Chandra Ray. Fresh from a trip to Jalpaiguri to meet a prospective bride, Dr. Ray returned just in time for duty. Their first interaction was tense. He reprimanded her for wearing earrings, bangles and a chain, and objected to the hostel superintendent sitting on her bed. “These are against the rules,” he told her sternly. Sandhya Rani, unimpressed by his authority, found him arrogant.

Their sparring continued after the surgery. When she complained of pain, Dr. Ray remarked, “I have seen women in greater pain at a certain point in their lives.” She retorted sharply, “Love in the Time of Appendicitis": A Valentine’s Day Story from Kolkata

Years later, she learnt that the exchange had intrigued him. He had wondered, “Why does she say so, she is well educated, intelligent, good looking…”

Dr. Ray soon found reasons to visit her room. “He would spare no occasion to come to my room and start a conversation. Sometimes he would finish up the daab that was meant for me,” Sandhya Rani recalls with a chuckle. At home, she complained, “He behaves badly. I don’t like him at all.”

One day, she noticed his key ring and asked to see it. He replied, “Certainly not. One cannot hold them without assuming responsibility for them.” Then, lowering his voice, he asked, “Would you like to take… the responsibility of this bunch of keys?”

She did not answer that evening. After recovering, she returned to college, unaware that her family had begun corresponding with Dr. Ray. While she tried to avoid him — even escaping to friends’ homes — her mother strongly disapproved of her resistance and confronted him at the hospital late one night.

Sandhya Rani and Dr. Anil Chandra Ray courted for a year before marrying in 1959. After marriage, she went on to complete her master’s degree and study law. Smiling, she finally reveals a long-held secret: the day after the key-ring proposal, the reserved doctor leaned in and planted a gentle peck on her cheek.

Love in the Time of Appendicitis: A Valentine’s Day Story from Kolkata

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