MD An Odyssey (2)

MD An Odyssey 3

Back in ferozeore and ‘routine ‘activities with playing good tennis everyday and enjoy playing with toddler Suba at home. Prospects of admission to a MD course were receding but hope of getting into PGI Chandigarh kept simmering. There was no valid reason for this utopian dream---but  another lucky break presented itself.

DDMS Northern Command, MajGen Rao (nick named “Jinnah rao” because of his close physical resemblance to the Waziri Azam) arrived in MH Ferozepore on an ‘inspection’ visit. He was thin & tall with a pipe in his hand –I had a terrible urge to advise him against smoking because his chest was typically”pink puffer” type of emphysema.--- Usual round of wards and a clinical meeting were organized. I was lucky to muster five ‘interesting ‘ cases including one “Fallot’s Tetrology”, Posterior inferior cerebellar artery syndrome, and a patient with “cavernous” type of bronchial breathsound. The good general even condescended to take my steth ,auscultated & gave me a smile of approval. I remain grateful till today to my CO(commanding officer), LtCol.AK Choudhry, who arranged for me to meet the General in CO’s room.My surgical colleague Maj.Chahal also persuaded the CO.  I repeated my ‘sob story’ once again and remembered to point out the offer to join PGI Chandigarh for MD by the Director himself. The only way I could EVER achieve my ambition of MD is if I can be granted “study leave” Thankful to my CO again when he added “Please Sir (Punjabis always add please!)This boy deserves to be helped”.  Gen.Rao “Avtar (first name of my CO) write a note to me. I will see what can be done”. Like in the movies I imagined I was already in PGI running up & down the ramps of the mammoth buildings! !! CO said “ Krishnan, these senior officers promise a lot. But I am not sure they act on it” All I could do was to go back to ‘Black night’ the only affordable scotch by an army officer.

Couple of weeks later CO sent for me & showed the letter Gen.Rao had written to DMS  Army (Director of Medical Services). A brief summary of my sob story was attached and the covering letter said “I strongly recommend that Capt.Krishnan be granted study leave at the earliest”. A month or so later ORDER from DGAFMS was received—Capt.Krishnan is granted study leave for two years--.Hurray !! but there were still hurdles to cross—my pay drops to half of basic pay and NO allowances, No service accommodation & had to rent one at MY expense & a few more niggles--. Jaya stood by me. I was welcomed to PGI. Mr.Virk (whose son I treated for pericardial effusion) helped me rent a house in 15  sector with only Madhya margh separating my house from PGI in 12 sector. My tenure in PGI is till today “THE GOLDEN PERIOD” in my life.

1966

Icing of the cake: Prof.Chhuttani took all his students to the  canteen & gave us tea after the weekly grand round.. Other faculty members also joined. Discussions were usually on matters not medical! Jokes were common. During one such ‘tea ceremony’ Prof.Chhuttani suddenly asked me “when are you completing?” “nine months more” I said. He turns to the faculty present there “Why not let Krishnan appear this December (3months away!)?” “Yes Sir” was the chorus of reply. Prof.Ashok Seghal was entrusted with the task formalizing the proposal to the standing committee and obtaining sanction. Believe me ,NOBODY bothered to inquire whether I was prepared for this jump?! Every one of us had gone through nightmares when your roommate corrects you to say that exam is only 48 hrs away & not 72 hrs one believed! And here these guys are chopping off FULL SIX MONTHS ! When I reached home the distraught expression on my face alarmed Jaya. When I told her she not only cheered up but even suggested that I deserved that ‘alcohol ‘ to celebrate the commendable confidence that I had generated with my teachers. Well,Jaya & my teachers were proved right. I passed standing First in Panjab university!

The exam was an ‘ordeal’—I must mention how it ended. In PGI candidate reported at 7am and stayed till all (clinical, oral etc) were all completed—7 or 8 pm! At about 7pm I was ushered into the room with ALL examiners sitting together for the final blow. Only Prof.Chhuttani was the internal examiners while other three were from Delhi, Jaipur & Bombay. As soon as I entered “Wait outside, we will call you “ said one of them. I walked dazed firm in my conviction that I had failed. Dr.Khatri ,Asst Prof in cardiology, consoled me saying “major saab, agar aap pass nahi hote qui nahi pass hoga”   Calling bell sounded. I walked in with trepidations. Sour expression on Prof.Chhuttani’s face made me miss a few beats. One of them asked me to read the xrays displayed. I had just reached the second one when I heard my mentor saying “That is enough. Krishnan. You can go”. On walking out of the room I collapsed in a chair with Khatri encouraging me with a cup of tea and reassuring that I could not have failed, adding that how can that happen to one who had scored One A+and four As in clinical.He was one of the invigilators. I could not go home to inform Jaya & so was resting in the duty room. An hour or so later Khatri walks in “Major, you stand first in Panjab Varsity” Prof.Chhuttani wanted to go through all the marks with a view to awarding me a GOLD MEDAL which is offered once a few years to a candidate by PGI for an EXCEPTIONAL performance. I had scraped through in pathology paper and I could not be conferred this honour. That was the reason why Prof.Chuutani was visibly upset!!  (I started this narration saying that pathology was my first love. Ironically it was pathology that spoiled my chance of Gold medal from PGI.)

An odyssey had ended but perhaps not?

Tail piece : I must record my indebtedness to many who helped me in achieving what looked well nigh impossible. Many were not known to me earlier like ADMS TNKK AREA, Gen.Rao, Prof.Chhuttani, my CO col.a k choudhry.  And of course Gaj who helped me complete MD thesis in the shortest possible time. These persons had instilled in me an abiding trust in ‘goodness’ of fellow humans and shown me the path to follow in my life

MD An Odyssey (3)

MD An Odyssey 3

Back in ferozeore and ‘routine ‘activities with playing good tennis everyday and enjoy playing with toddler Suba at home. Prospects of admission to a MD course were receding but hope of getting into PGI Chandigarh kept simmering. There was no valid reason for this utopian dream---but  another lucky break presented itself.

DDMS Northern Command, MajGen Rao (nick named “Jinnah rao” because of his close physical resemblance to the Waziri Azam) arrived in MH Ferozepore on an ‘inspection’ visit. He was thin & tall with a pipe in his hand –I had a terrible urge to advise him against smoking because his chest was typically”pink puffer” type of emphysema.--- Usual round of wards and a clinical meeting were organized. I was lucky to muster five ‘interesting ‘ cases including one “Fallot’s Tetrology”, Posterior inferior cerebellar artery syndrome, and a patient with “cavernous” type of bronchial breathsound. The good general even condescended to take my steth ,auscultated & gave me a smile of approval. I remain grateful till today to my CO(commanding officer), LtCol.AK Choudhry, who arranged for me to meet the General in CO’s room.My surgical colleague Maj.Chahal also persuaded the CO.  I repeated my ‘sob story’ once again and remembered to point out the offer to join PGI Chandigarh for MD by the Director himself. The only way I could EVER achieve my ambition of MD is if I can be granted “study leave” Thankful to my CO again when he added “Please Sir (Punjabis always add please!)This boy deserves to be helped”.  Gen.Rao “Avtar (first name of my CO) write a note to me. I will see what can be done”. Like in the movies I imagined I was already in PGI running up & down the ramps of the mammoth buildings! !! CO said “ Krishnan, these senior officers promise a lot. But I am not sure they act on it” All I could do was to go back to ‘Black night’ the only affordable scotch by an army officer.

Couple of weeks later CO sent for me & showed the letter Gen.Rao had written to DMS  Army (Director of Medical Services). A brief summary of my sob story was attached and the covering letter said “I strongly recommend that Capt.Krishnan be granted study leave at the earliest”. A month or so later ORDER from DGAFMS was received—Capt.Krishnan is granted study leave for two years--.Hurray !! but there were still hurdles to cross—my pay drops to half of basic pay and NO allowances, No service accommodation & had to rent one at MY expense & a few more niggles--. Jaya stood by me. I was welcomed to PGI. Mr.Virk (whose son I treated for pericardial effusion) helped me rent a house in 15  sector with only Madhya margh separating my house from PGI in 12 sector. My tenure in PGI is till today “THE GOLDEN PERIOD” in my life.

1966

Icing of the cake: Prof.Chhuttani took all his students to the  canteen & gave us tea after the weekly grand round.. Other faculty members also joined. Discussions were usually on matters not medical! Jokes were common. During one such ‘tea ceremony’ Prof.Chhuttani suddenly asked me “when are you completing?” “nine months more” I said. He turns to the faculty present there “Why not let Krishnan appear this December (3months away!)?” “Yes Sir” was the chorus of reply. Prof.Ashok Seghal was entrusted with the task formalizing the proposal to the standing committee and obtaining sanction. Believe me ,NOBODY bothered to inquire whether I was prepared for this jump?! Every one of us had gone through nightmares when your roommate corrects you to say that exam is only 48 hrs away & not 72 hrs one believed! And here these guys are chopping off FULL SIX MONTHS ! When I reached home the distraught expression on my face alarmed Jaya. When I told her she not only cheered up but even suggested that I deserved that ‘alcohol ‘ to celebrate the commendable confidence that I had generated with my teachers. Well,Jaya & my teachers were proved right. I passed standing First in Panjab university!

The exam was an ‘ordeal’—I must mention how it ended. In PGI candidate reported at 7am and stayed till all (clinical, oral etc) were all completed—7 or 8 pm! At about 7pm I was ushered into the room with ALL examiners sitting together for the final blow. Only Prof.Chhuttani was the internal examiners while other three were from Delhi, Jaipur & Bombay. As soon as I entered “Wait outside, we will call you “ said one of them. I walked dazed firm in my conviction that I had failed. Dr.Khatri ,Asst Prof in cardiology, consoled me saying “major saab, agar aap pass nahi hote qui nahi pass hoga”   Calling bell sounded. I walked in with trepidations. Sour expression on Prof.Chhuttani’s face made me miss a few beats. One of them asked me to read the xrays displayed. I had just reached the second one when I heard my mentor saying “That is enough. Krishnan. You can go”. On walking out of the room I collapsed in a chair with Khatri encouraging me with a cup of tea and reassuring that I could not have failed, adding that how can that happen to one who had scored One A+and four As in clinical.He was one of the invigilators. I could not go home to inform Jaya & so was resting in the duty room. An hour or so later Khatri walks in “Major, you stand first in Panjab Varsity” Prof.Chhuttani wanted to go through all the marks with a view to awarding me a GOLD MEDAL which is offered once a few years to a candidate by PGI for an EXCEPTIONAL performance. I had scraped through in pathology paper and I could not be conferred this honour. That was the reason why Prof.Chuutani was visibly upset!!  (I started this narration saying that pathology was my first love. Ironically it was pathology that spoiled my chance of Gold medal from PGI.)

An odyssey had ended but perhaps not?

Tail piece : I must record my indebtedness to many who helped me in achieving what looked well nigh impossible. Many were not known to me earlier like ADMS TNKK AREA, Gen.Rao, Prof.Chhuttani, my CO col.a k choudhry.  And of course Gaj who helped me complete MD thesis in the shortest possible time. These persons had instilled in me an abiding trust in ‘goodness’ of fellow humans and shown me the path to follow in my life

Ferozepore (1)

Ferozepore 1
1965- -I was physician in MH Ferozepore -Indo Pak war breaks out-7 Infantry Division moves out IMMEDIATELY to Khemkaran sector-Overnight the town is empty , deserted. Families of officers had to fend for themselves all the while praying for safe return of their husbands except of course the AMC officers! Suddenly four wives ,all South Indians, landed in Capt. Krishnan's house because their husbands told them so for the simple reason that'medical specialist' will not be moved out! Next morning ALL the four + Jaya and  Suba, 1 1/2 yrs were "packed"in Mrs.Pillai's Amby and the driver was instructed to proceed to Delhi. ( Later I learnt that all roads to Delhi was  one way "FROM" Delhi to facilitate army movement, but somehow clever resourceful mallu driver reached Delhi .How simple it sounds now!! It took ALL OF SEVEN DAYS before Ltcol Murthy could contact his elder brother Venkatraman then GM Air India staying in 3 Circular Road New Delhi. Suba & Jaya were staying with them. Till then it looked as though those seven days were longer than one யுகம் ! To confound our misery were rumours like “petrol pumps ordered NOT to supply petrol to civilian vehicles” Black out in Delhi and vehicles were forbidden to use even parking lights ’Mallu driver is driving in Delhi for the FIRST time”  “Did my chellachu   get something to eat or drink?” My thanks to Mrs.Pillai (where ever she is now).Unforgettable one week !!
Mr.Vekatram’s pet was BIG Ulsatian ,almost as tall as Suba was then .They two took an instant liking for each other & Suba used to play with him & even ride on him fearlessly!! Two weeks later Jaya & Suba moved to a cousin of Vedam Patti in govt accommodation located on a road from Connaught Place & Karolbagh.That is where I met them much later.

Truck loads of casualties poured in to MH Ferozepore -150 bedded hospital, with one physician, one surgeon (MONI,SSRC officer),one gyenaecologist, one ophthalmologist ,one pathologist and one CO(commanding officer) .The last mentioned could not help because he was a thorough bred administrator . There was NO prior warning from AHQ (army head quarters) either in informing us to expect loads of casualties or in providing materials  or manpower. That is PLANNING & INTELIGENCE Info !!.   
Surgeon ,Gyenec & opthalmologist (latter two because they can cut & sew!) were inside the one OT(operation Theatre) with a minor OT as annexe. For FULL THREE days & nights they came out only to ‘answer call of nature’( I have  heard this dignified expression only from Tamilians?) ,reclined on a chair when sleep was impossible to resist, bit into whatever was supplied. So did the OT nurses and ORAs (Theatre assistants). When I recall this my heart brims with pride even now.
My duty was to prioritise the casualties –sounds simple but I thank the Lord I did not have to do it again in my life.. After a hurried assessment I had to decide whether casualty “A” has better chance of survival with surgery than casualty “B”.and send the one with better chances into OT and offer “expectant” treatment  (medical profession is successful in inventing such phrases to delude the relatives into believing that “doctor is doing his best!”.) to those I had condemned. No colleague to confer, no lab to help. , I don’t know if I prayed for the decision to be right. I don’t think I had the time. But I recalled my appa ,General Medical Practitioner, predicting death with uncanny precision and advising relatives not to waste money any more on treatment but save it for final rites.But again they were sick persons & here in fronf of me were thakada jawans (healthy soldiers) in their prime of youth but maimed by war.
Pathologist did the blood grouping & cross matching. We NEEDED blood not litres but gallons! Only AMC personnel posted to MH were around and each one of them was fully engaged. Somehow news reached the civil population and in a moment droves of donors walked in. Ask Indian to face a national crisis and no one can better his response!! What is more Dal Roti was also brought by them in plenty.
Time for ‘ward rounds’ was available in the nights when trucks & ambulances stopped. No lights allowed. My nurse & I waded thru darkness guided by my pen torch. ( Later I was to meet this nurse as the wife of an airforce officer in Delhi) ”Is that you Krishnan? This voice cant be any one else’s” I rcognised the voice too. Joshi,  Sapper (Engineer)  officer.
 During my tenure inJ&K I was drafted to escort a recce team from Srinagar to Leh. Awaiting to get adequate number of mules to carry us & the rations we were asked to stay in Srinagar transit camp.Joshi was the sapper officer in the team. Strikingly handsome and bubbling with energy Joshi & I enjoyed each other’s company. It was a paid holiday in Srinagar .We were out every day exploring Dal lake in  boats or hiking or just walk & walk thru streets .He also was an avid sportsman, Hockey was his forte. Leh recce was called off after four weeks because specified number of mules was not available!!
“is that you Joshi?” I yell ,all the time troubled  not knowing why he was in the hospital . I rushed up to him & asked. Joshi asked me to flash the torch on his legs. Oh God! No legs!! He had stepped on a mine & both lesgs ,one below knee & the other upto ankle were blown.I cried aloud. Doctors are human too. Sister Gill ( I remember her name now) consoled me. She said “ Sir, at least your friend is alive”. She had lost her father in 1947 war in Kashmir when she was barely a few months old.

To be continued…..

Ferozepore (2)

-MH Ferozepore –contd

I left you with me in a state of shock at the plight of Joshi who aspired to represent Army in Hockey lying with  BOTH legs amputated by cruel war. I had known him for only four weeks but still I cried, I don’t know why! Thank you Sister Gill for helping me to recover. I suppose we were siblings born to Mother India-- (Later I met Joshi fitted with artificial limbs in ALC Pune & was shocked again, pleasantly this time, looking at his cheerful face and pride that he could drive a specially designed three wheeler. Bravo!).

Back to MH Ferozepore: Casualties continued to pour in. NO HELP,   NO HELP at all from AHQ. Wry humour was permissible under those circumstances—Either AHQ believed that MH Ferozepore had been ‘captured’ by Pakis or we in Ferozepore wanted to believe that DELHI had been captured by Pakis !!Both surmises were proved wrong when my CO received ORDERS to IMMEDIATELY ‘despatch’ (I resented this term then & even now) the medical specialist ( would it not be simpler to call me a physician!)to Abhor to attend to Brig.Puri who had severe pain in the chest.—Sri Puri had served as ADC earlier to GEN.Choudhry COAS) (chief of army staff)& hence the urgency--  Abhor was a border town even closer than Ferozepore to Pak and I was warned by a kind Div staff officer that the entire region was HEAVILY MINED and I should be careful. Naturally I asked “How does one avoid stepping on a mine?” ( Joshi’s predicament flashed thru my mind) “Well, Good luck Doc” was all that he could say. Driver of my jeep was far more helpful “ Saab aap kisiko balla karne keliey jara rahain, aap ko kuch nahin hoga’ .I examined Brig.Puri. Symptom wise he had a heart attack Stable clinically.My equipment—Stehoscope & sphygmomanometer ( BP apparatus for the less informed!). NO ECG. My ‘orders’ were that I should shift him  to MH Ambala. When I assessed the logistics It was clear that this order was from a ‘chair borne administrator’. To Ambala it would have taken FOUR hrs by road & then another six hours by train ( presuming that trains were running at all & on Time). Whereas it was 30 mts to rail head from where Brig was & another three hrs to my hospital in Ferozepore. Capt.Krishnan  IGNORED  the AHQ instructions & took him with me to my hospital in Ferozepore. 24 hrs later- Maj.Jagmohan Grover senior physician in MH Jallunder, arrived in Ferozepor under orders from AHQ to advise on the Brig. He replied to AHQ that BEST had been done. When I thanked him he said “remain true to your profession ,you can’t go wrong”. I was to meet him later when I was reader in medicine in AFMC & Col.Grover was associate professor. We became friends notwithstanding the difference in seniority.( AHQ babus wrote his name as J. M. Grover. His protested that JAGMOHAN was ONE name & he should be designated “J.Grover” but babudom  was not impressed).