New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- My maternal granddad was a doctor who practised medicine and saw patients into his mid-80s. The patients loved and trusted him and he knew everything about their families and medical history. Patients would often knock on his door in the middle of the night. As I grew older I began to think that the connection, empathy and interaction with his patients gave him joy.

Years later, after I got married, I lived with my in-laws and watched my father -in-law practise as a doctor. He spoke of the patients he saw, and how his intuition, which was pattern recognition, came from a relationship with the patient built on mindful listening, hearing the unsaid, the cultural nuances, and understanding the patient's world. In the l...