A lot of adjectives befit the man, he lived every Human emotion….Unconditional Love, Compassion, Humour, Anger, Humility, Sarcasm, Impulsiveness, and the combinations of all these. His loss is personal to me and I feel like I have lost my father for a second time in this life.
He fits the term ‘friend, philosopher, and guide’ as no one else does. He somehow managed to keep the Karmic phrase ‘one meets another for a reason’ true till the end. His reason for meeting people was to give them the compassion and love that we lack in our stressful lives. For some of his students and adopted children, he was also a person who patiently listened to all their personal problems and found some way to make light of a difficult situation. Since his passing, I am hearing more and more from his friends, batchmates, and senior surgeons that he managed to touch us all equally and left us mourning the same.
I met K.M sir for the first time in 2012, probably half an hour or so before I met Dr.KMC (Chief) regarding my employment. We had hardly met but Sir had already accepted me as the person who would be his next student to teach Pediatric cardiac surgery to. He introduced me to everyone in the ICU-OT complex of Frontier lifeline, this is Sowmya and she will be helping me whenever Chief employs her. To people who know Dr.KM and have been his students, this is hardly difficult to imagine and visualize. What happened next was a relationship for life.
“Surgery should be conceptualized in the mind before performing on the patient “. I was his first test subject then, for all his teaching methodology… the paper cuttings for the VSDs to the classes on Fontan physiology…From the time the first case of the day would be taken for discussion in the morning meeting, till the patient was settled in the ICU and sent to the ward, I would hear about the anatomy, physiology, the first surgery, the modifications, etc. in a background of music being played in the radio. I call this the “Kirklin Audiobook” phenomenon. The audiobook plays in a loop in my mind still in KM sir’s voice.
“Somebody’s heart, somebody’s brain, somebody’s child”- ‘personal communication’ from Dr.K.M to us when he felt we are not deciding the right treatment for the patient. A message that has stayed with me and I find myself often repeating it to people around me. A thought probably more of us need to think about while in this profession.
“Our commitment is only to the patient” – Most of us know the ups and downs of his professional life. Pediatric cardiac surgery and Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute were his ‘Heart’ and ‘Soul’. Thankful to God that the love for pediatric cardiac surgery was more than the attachment to the Institute that he practiced it in. He worked in 6 centres, and helped establish some more, and in all of them he worked with the same passion and sense of commitment to his patients. During the last phone call, I had with him on 21.12.2022, we talked of how life changes and how one does not know where the next destination is, “…. every time I think this is going to be the place where I work for ever, until it is not…” little did either of us know that Sathya Sai Sanjeevani, Palwal, the place that was a Sanjeevani to him and to many many children would also be the last place of work. All of us who are close to KM sir know that he was truly happy there.
“Matha, Pitha, Guru, Daivom”- KM sir was truly blessed by his teachers. He was a student that lived the example of the ideal ‘student teacher’ relationship with his teachers – Dr. MSV and Dr. KMC. I am blessed to have met KM Sir in my life, blessed for all the precious and unforgettable teacher student moments that I have experienced.
It is unfortunate that we cannot be with him for longer but what matters is how we spent the time together. I am sure I speak for all my friends and all his friends who were close to him, that he made sure that we spent the time well. Sir, until we all meet in another multiverse, Adieu!!
Dr. Sowmya Ramanan,
Associate Professor, CVTS, SCTIMST.
Pediatric and Congenital Heart surgery in India has witnessed an exponential growth in the past two decades. From a handful of surgeons who dedicated themselves to this specialty in the early nineties, the country can claim today to have at many as two hundred surgeons who are actively involved in the surgical management of children with heart disease. It is not surprising therefore that the idea of forming a Society of congenital heart surgeons was mooted sometime in 2017 and the Society of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (SPCHS) was formally launched at the CME held in R&R Army Hospital in 2018. The executive committee was put in place and first batch of office bearers selected. I was asked to be the Founding President, an honor that I most humbly accepted.
Many raised their eyebrows at the creation of yet another Society and some hinted to a rebellion. The truth was quite to the contrary. Given the rising popularity of the specialty it was imperative that a platform be created that allowed the member surgeons to form a collective force that could propel growth of the specialty, incentivize a younger generation of surgeons, advise the policy makers in matters that affected the specialty and most importantly give congenital heart surgeons a sense of identity. The Society aims to bind congenital heart surgeons as a unified body that would collectively provide added strength to the parent bodies – The Pediatric Cardiac Society of India and the Indian Association of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgeons. The enhanced level of activities related to pediatric cardiac surgery in both these organizations in the past four years stands testimony to this endeavor.
The two years of Covid 19 had put brakes on many of the proposed academic activities of the Society, although a few CMEs with focused themes were held. Nevertheless, the WhatsApp discussion platform created to encourage free discussions amongst the members proved to be immensely popular. Younger surgeons used the platform to pick the brains of seniors for managing challenging cases or post-operative complications. Members post interesting and unusual cases with unfailing regularity and the learning experience for all has been truly rewarding. It has also been heartening to witness the active participation of many of our colleagues from overseas who would otherwise have become distant acquaintances. With the hope of normalization of travel and conference activities the Society is re-energized plans to plunge ahead with many of its planned agenda.
No Society can survive without the continued active participation of its members in the activities of the organization and growth cannot occur without efforts to recruit more members. Younger members of the Society need to have a sense of belonging and should be able to view the Society as a protective umbrella. This responsibility rests on the shoulders of elders in the Society who will need to hear the voice of the new generation and navigate the Society through emerging challenges. It is hoped that the new website will be used by all actively to share their thoughts, post new ideas and share knowledge.
Lastly, ‘money make the world go around’ and I exhort all the members to please pay their annual dues regularly so that the Society can go full steam ahead with its activities.
Jai Hind
DR KRISHNA IYER
PRESIDENT, SPCHS
The SPCHS has served ,since it’s inception over four years ago, to bring together congenital cardiac surgeons of mainly Indian origin but, in addition, also surgeons belonging to neighboring countries and some from distant countries onto a common platform.
The society has at its core the interest of the ailing patient and the best way to offer him relief from suffering. The society has so far had several physical workshops which have been enthusiastically attended and a 24×7 whatsapp group that is extremely popular and a go to place for all of us looking for advice on a new patient, with never- ending continuous parallel sessions ,where everyone is free to chip in. Not to forget the spchs- ec group where non- academic content can be aired without wasting the time and agenda of the regular SPCHS Discussion Group in trivialities . Since the setting up of the society, the amazing depth of repertoire and the amazing ability of many in the group has been an eye opener and augers well for the future of the speciality in the country. It only we can attract fresh talent- and that to my mind should be one of the main objective of the society.
To that end, the setting up of the website is a welcome initiative by our secretary, Dr Gaurav Kumar and Dr Debasis Das .The only sad part about the timing is that our Boss ,the much respected Dr Krishna Manohar, ever ready with his sagacious wit and kind advice, is not here to witness its launch.I am sure he would be blessing the society with continued success as it matures and becomes an inspiration for us pediatric cardiac surgeons to take our efforts to an greater level.
Long live SPCHS
RAJESH SHARMA.
VICE_PRESIDENT, SPCHS
The Society of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgeons is the official society of Congenital Heart Surgeons of India. It’s a ‘Not-for-Profit’ organization dedicated to developing Pediatric Cardiac Surgery in India and the region. SPCHS aims do develop training, academics, and research in the field of Pediatric Cardiac Sciences in India and the region.
C-36, Sector-19, Noida,
Uttar Pradesh-201301, India
Phone : Sumit @ 99992 79296
Email @ indiansocietypchs@gmail.com