India, Dec. 22 -- Nearing midnight on a chilly winter night, a close friend hurried me into the emergency ward of the local civil hospital. A sudden, severe bout of diarrhoea had left me dangerously weak and severely dehydrated. I knew all too well how quickly such things could spiral out of control, sometimes even cost a life, so there was no time to simply wait and see if it would pass.

The emergency hall was a blur of movement and muted urgency. Wheelchairs rolled in, stretchers rattled past, and relatives supported loved ones who could barely walk. Some patients moaned in pain; others sat with eyes closed, enduring in silence. I waited among them - pale, hunched, my body running on empty. My dishevelled beard and crumpled clothes, hu...