Meet Hindumbi Kaurom Kakkada, the nurse who has been part of Lakshadweep’s healthcare story for over five decades

At 80 years old, Hindumbi Kaurom Kakkada unfailingly clocks in at 8 am for her nursing duties at the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep. She retired once, technically at 60. But three months later, she was back, this time as a contract nurse. She works every day except Sundays. If there is an emergency on Sunday, she will still come. If there are cases in the middle of the night, she is ready.

“It’s God’s will. And I will continue working as long as I am able to,” she tells HerStory.

In Hindumbi’s extraordinary 53-year career, aatmartatha (sincerity), discipline, and dedication have been key. She has supported over 20,000 surgeries and emergency cases in one of India’s remotest regions.

The winner of the Florence Nightingale Award in 2023 is now one of the top 10 finalists for the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2026. Instituted by Aster DM Healthcare, the grand title comes with a $250,000 prize and global recognition. The winner will be announced at an event in July this year.

The ninth standard declaration and life as a nurse

Born and raised in Kavaratti, Hindumbi proudly talks of her freedom fighter father, who walked with Mahatma Gandhi during the Dandi March of 1930 and was among those who brought the Indian flag to Lakshwadeep.

The ‘Hind’ from her name comes from ‘Hindustan’. His daughter would grow up to carry that spirit of service into healthcare, dedicating her life to nursing and caring for others.

When Hindumbi was in the ninth standard, her English teacher asked her what she wanted to become in life. She replied that she wanted to be a nurse. 

For two years, she studied at the Providence High School in Kozhikode. A journey to the city in North Kerala via Mangaluru would take seven days by a catamaran. After completing her tenth standard, she enrolled in the nursing course at Kozhikode Medical College, where she stayed in a hostel for four years. She did not return to Kavaratti even once, as only two small ships plied on that route.

After completing her course, she returned home to join the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kavaratti as a staff nurse.

Early in her career, the islands Hindumbi served lacked reliable electricity, specialist doctors, and easy access to the mainland. She learned to work within these constraints.

In 1975, she assisted in a surgery on a patient by the light of a kerosene lamp, as power outages were common.

“I remember accompanying a gynaecologist from the hospital to treat a patient on Agatti. She was bleeding and could not be treated there. We loaded her onto a fishing boat and, in the middle of the sea, performed a blood transfusion. When we reached Kavaratti, the doctor performed a C-section, and both the mother and baby were saved,” she recalls.

She recounts travelling to Amini Island, struck by a cholera outbreak. She was there for 10 days, running intravenous lines, and she came back to Kavaratti when things were better. 

She remembers helping the doctor deliver a breech baby on a ship and travelling to Amini and Andrott (islands) to attend to emergency cases. She worked through tough times during the 2004 tsunami, dealing with several cases of injury, and through the Covid-19 pandemic, unwavering in her dedication and commitment.

“You delivered my child”

In the streets of Kavaratti, a man pulls his scooter to a stop and calls out to Hindumbi. He points to the child beside him and says, “The child was delivered by you.”

She has heard some version of the same sentence more times than she can count. At the post office, a woman tells her that the daughter she brought into the world is about to join the Secretariat. A man offering her a ride home points to his daughter and says the same thing. 

“I feel immensely happy,” she says.

This is what 53 years of nursing in Lakshadweep looks like. The happiness of strangers stopping her on the road to say, “you were there.” 

Unwavering family support

Ask Hindumbi about the most challenging moments in her five-decade career, and her answer is disarmingly simple: “Nothing. I have never found my work difficult at all.” 

She explains that her dedication to her profession would not have been possible without her family's support.

“Even now, when I get a call in the middle of the night, my family would drop me off at the hospital. When emergencies came, and I had to work days and nights, they would support me.”

She wakes up at 5 am, finishes all her household chores, and is ready to leave for the hospital by 7.30 a.m. She has followed this routine for years without any variation.

When you ask her about retirement, she smiles. It seems like the idea has not crossed her mind yet!

Hindumbi is elated at being nominated for the Aster Global Guardians Nursing Award. If she wins, she plans to use the prize money to help fund the treatment of patients who cannot afford it.

She’s happy that young men and women are taking to nursing in Kavaratti. Her son is a nursing assistant, and her grandson is studying for a BSc in Nursing.

Her message to aspiring nurses is simple yet profound: “Nursing is great work. We care for bedridden patients as if they were our own parents. There is empathy and dignity in this profession,” she says.