Nivedita Lakhera
Nivedita Lakhera | |
|---|---|
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| Born | New Delhi, India |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States Of America |
| Alma mater | University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics..[1] |
| Occupation |
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Dr. Nivedita Lakhera MD, Internal Medicine, is an Indian-born American hospitalist in San Jose, California[2]. She sustained and survived a massive stroke at the age of 27, during the second year of her Internal Medicine residency. Along with the practice of Internal Medicine, she has published two books of poetry and has an upcoming third book called The Lifecurrency (2021).
She has written more than 4000 poems and prose and has created a massive body of artwork. She has published two poetry and art books- Pillow of Dreams (2017), and I am not a princess I am a complete fairytale (2019).
Early life
Dr Nivedita Lakhera, was born in New Delhi, India to Mrs Surendra Lakhera and Mr. Subhash Chandra Lakhera. In her interviews she frequently mentions her mother is the reason for being fearless and joyful in life, while her father is the reason for her passion towards science and literature, while both are responsible for instilling social justice as an important cause to work towards. While both are responsible for instilling social justice zest in her.[3]
Her father, Mr S. C. Lakhera ( Subhash Chandra Lakhera) worked as a scientist in the prestigious DRDO organisation in India and has received the Aatma Ram award from the President of India. The Atmaram Award|Atma Ram Award is an honor in India, which is given in memory of the Indian scientist, Atma Ram (scientist)|Atma Ram. It is conferred annually for an outstanding contribution in the field of scientific and technical literature and instrument development. The Atma Ram award is given by the Central Hindi Directorate, Central Hindi Directorate|Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.
She has four siblings. She got married in April 2002 and moved to the USA in July 2002. She got divorced in May 2010.
Career
Medicine
Dr. Nivedita Lakhera, went to medical school when she was only 16 years old. She graduated from there in 2001. In her medical college talent show, she was bestowed upon the Kalathilakam, a prestigious award for winning awards in several competitions like dance, acting, speech, debate, poetry etc. She was passionate about internal medicine and cleared her competitive US medical licensing exams with 97 percentile and 98 percentile. She did her first year of post graduation from Good Samaritan Hospital, Baltimore and second and third year of residency from UIHC. She graduated in 2008 and became a board certified physician in her first attempt. She graduated under dean Dr Paul Rothman from UIHC, in 2008 who is now CEO of John Hopkins, Baltimore[4].
She is a keynote speaker and was going to appear at Webit Summit as one of the speakers, which got cancelled because of COVID.
Front line Health Care Worker during COVID-19
During the time of the COVID pandemic, she campaigned against misinformation and was advocating for masking, social distancing[5]. Early on, she filed a nationwide petition for early lockdown to contain the pandemic, which likely contributed to statewide lockdown in the state of California[6].
She appeared on NBC to bring attention to scarcity of resources and the realities of frontline workers during COVID Pandemic[7]. She was the first of few doctors who raised concerns about obesity being linked to the poor outcomes in COVID early on[8]. She was against early opening of the economy during a deadly pandemic and a lukewarm government response that cost several lives and was very vocal about that[9]. She created awareness about the mental health crisis amidst frontline workers during the pandemic and wrote an opinion piece for USA today[10] and was interviewed by NPR[11]. Days after the publication of that article a top frontline doctor killed herself amidst the New York pandemic crisis[12]
White coats for black life and other social justice issues
She was interviewed by USA Today regarding white coats for black life, where she was faced by racist comments including one where she was told to go back to where she came from[13]
She wrote the following poem in her second poetry book
black lives matter, black deaths matter they demand my skin be lighter so their kids feel safe around me they want no hooded t-shirt on my scalding head in the heat of the day so they feel safe around me they have allowed my rise in songs and Olympics and the tennis court with their hesitation, bowing to my god-like voice and body but they give me the lowest ceilings and keep me on a leash to stay under other fields they keep their white collars and create a small token of my race here and there for wall carpet of diversity they want my pain to be mellow and scream to be soft they want so much editing of me they want to take so much out of me because they could not empty the hands of my ancestors enough they want blood out of their bloodline too[14] dedicated to Trayvon Martin|Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012)
She wrote a poem which is included in her second book of poetry, that was widely circulated in social media about consent, following sexual assault allegation by California professor Christine Blasey Ford against current Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh[15]. She created a Youtube video 'Consent is the law' regarding the matter.
Consent is the Law
it’s not an invitation till i invite you it’s not an invitation even if we sleep in the same bed married to each other, legally and religiously declared man and wife it’s not an invitation even if my dress is not what your family, your own mind , your strict manuals of code of conduct, your religion, your country or anyone, anything other than me has decided ‘appropriate’ and makes you believe i am ‘asking for it’
it’s not an invitation if i just underwent or ever undergo gender reassignment surgery, or if i am gender neutral , gender fluid, gender unclear, man or woman, labeled or not labeled, of whatever body type, with or without society-approved perfections or imperfections, with or without curve
it’s not an invitation if i am being sensuous, demure, docile, virgin, non virgin, straight, gay, bisexual, unclear, monogamous, poly amorous, dominant, forward, backward, as per your own interpretation
it’s not an invitation if i am homeless or a pole dancer, stripper, rocket scientist, journalist, friend, sex worker, doctor, drug addict, co-founder of a company pitching you an idea, student, struggling or established actress, wife, daughter, sister, caretaker, or in any and every role
it’s not an invitation if i said yes at first and then changed my mind or if we had it one time already so i should be ok when you feel like it again
it’s not an invitation because i got drunk, or i got sober, or i am playing easy or hard to get or because i am celebrating or suppressing my sexuality or lack of it
it’s not an invitation whether i am wearing a bikini, hijab, sari, skirt, anything whatsoever or nothing
it’s not an invitation it’s not an invitation it’s not an invitation
till i say it is
till then you are not welcome and you are in violation to the highest degree and you are committing a crime
and it will never be my shame it will be your shame
oh and while we are at it there is no such thing called ‘asking for it’ if i want i will ‘ask’
your entitlement is not my responsibility your ignorance will be your suffering, not mine
just remember it’s not an invitation till i invite you till i say yes, it’s a no
and as someone wise once said very well ‘no’ is a complete sentence
Artwork
She has created and exhibited acrylic, mixed media artwork and sketches. One of the artwork she sold at Red Dot Fair during Art Basel Miami, went on to become the cover of her first book- Pillow of Dreams[16]. She is illustrator of both of her books and sells her artwork online at personal website and fine art america.
References
- ↑ "Graduate Medical Education". Internal Medicine Residency Graduate Medical Education.
- ↑ "About Dr. Nivedita Lakhera (Pandey), MD". U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "The Index". drsashanaircom. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "Paul Bennett Rothman, M.D., Professor of Medicine". Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "Eddie Green's 101: 054 : Dr. Nivedita Lakhera on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: From The Front-Lines Of The War On Coronavirus". Van Nuys News Press. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "'This system is doomed': Doctors, nurses sound off in NBC News coronavirus survey". NBCNews.com. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "Obese People Are more at risk of COVID-19 than Others - New Study". DoctorsQuarters.com.com. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "'The economy cannot thrive on dead bodies,' – Dr. Nivedita Lakhera". COVID. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "Coronavirus: As a front-line doctor, I can't let another colleague suffer trauma, suicide". USA Today. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "What happens when doctors lose hope? The mental, emotional stress of being on COVID-19 frontlines". KCRW. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "Top E.R. Doctor Who Treated Virus Patients Dies by Suicide". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "'White Coats for Black Lives cannot be just one event for one year'". USA Today. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ Lakhera, Nivedita (March 19, 2019). I Am Not A Princess, I Am A Complete Fairytale (First ed.). San Jose, California: Bowker. p. 36.
- ↑ "California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ↑ "Healing amidst chaos - Dr. Nivedita Lakhera". Medium. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
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