Anna and I happened to meet Dr William Cutting at the Christian Medical College, Vellore this week, during a short visit. At 92 years he was visiting places in in India which had become part of his formative years. His great grandparents worked in India in Varanasi; his parents worked in ChikkaBallapur and William and Margot worked in Jammalamadugu.
It was while working in a mission hospital, he felt the call to be involved in promoting child health of children living in disadvantaged situations. After his formal training, he worked along with Professor David Morley at the Institute of Cild health, London in evolving the road to health chart which later became the growth monitoring tool globally.
Dr Cutting was a regular visitor to India in the nineteen eighties and nineties. Dr Rachel Chacko, professor of Cild Health at the Institute of Child health at Chennai was well known to him. It was she who introduced Dr William and Dr Margot to us. During one of his visits he spent a day with us at the Child Development Center at Chennai, and returned by saying that the facility that we offered in 1987 had a resemblance to what a Child Development Centre would offer in the United Kingdom. Since then he kept in touch, encouraging and sharing his thoughts about advancing the facility to be a training facility for Paediatricians in child development.
During his next visit in 1994, he had met the director and the Medical Superintendent of the Christian Medical College, Vellore to encourage them to invite us to come to CMC to start a unit of Developmental Paediatrics. Dr V.I.Mathan, invited us to CMC, when he became the director, to start the Developmental Paediatrics Unit through a MOU with ASHIRVAD. That is how the child development Centre at Chennai got incorporated to start the first academic unit of this speciality in a medical college in India in 1997.
Dr Cutting at 92 years has phenomenal memory. He did recollect the season of three years of conversations with CMC Vellore to facilitate the starting of Child Development facility at CMC. Following the home call of Dr Margot in October 2025, It was his desire to visit India to places that he was associated with. His children decided to accompany him for visiting places and people that he had association with. 
Anna and I had an opportunity to visit Dr Cutting and Dr Margot in Scotland in 2021 during which time we had opportunity to recollect many experiences of involvement in child development. There are many memories and recollections that stay with us of that visit.
What might fascinate most people who know Dr Cutting is the way he got immersed in the care of the elderly by advocating movement as a way to stay well, after his retirement from his regular work in child health. He published three books and disseminated wellness measures for the elderly. He himself has movement related limitations now. But his inner wellness and zest for life inspired us when we met him during this week.
Anna and I felt moved by the way he lives the 'fullness of life' which he attributes to God and the experience of His presence in his daily life! His children and grandchildren make it possible by their encouraging support to him.
One highlight of our visit to Vellore was meeting him and the accompanying members of his family!
Our wellness transcends physical limitations. Our wellness is an inner attitude and experience!
M.C.Mathew( text and photo)
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