Today Prof. D. K. Chabra left for his heavenly abode at 8.05 AM. He was unwell and God almighty relieved him of all his pains. The pious and kind man that he was, and with fathomless accumulation of blessings from his patients and relatives accompanying him, his Atma will surely meet Paramatma and rejoice in all its glory.
Dr. D. K. Chabra was to me a role model in my residency days. His dedication to the patients and his unflinching devotion to Prof. Dave was legendary. He knew what the professor desired as if by telepathy. I was posted as a House Officer and among my other duties I had to do the Carotid angiograms of all the head injury patients. Those were the pre C.T scan days and this was a vital investigation. There was a small room in Neurosurgery basement next to Prof. Godwin Newton's room which had a small X Ray machine in which I did the Carotid angiograms with an intern and usually we did 10 to 15 each day. One day after doing about 6 or 7 angiogram there was a loud noise in the machine and it stopped functioning.
I was scared to my bones and I informed my JR. He then told the Chief Resident who gave a wry smile and said "ab beta tum hi Chabra Sir ko batana". The evening round started and angiograms were required for every head injury patient in this round. In the very first patient when Dr. Chabra was examining the angiogram the Chief Resident said "Sir, Surajit aap se kuch kehna chahta hai". He promptly retorted " to tumse kyon kehla raha hai?" Then turning around to me he raised his eyebrows "bolo". I then went on to describe the entire incident as it happened much to the amusement of my seniors. He simply nodded with his eyes closed and said "theek hai".
The mega round finished in a hotel in Chaok where we had dinner. We then walked to the Superintendent's office where there was a public phone. He gave me loose change to ring back home and tell my parents that I won't be home that night. And while the rest of the team dispersed we walked back to Neurosurgery ward. On the way he went inside a ward and picked up an empty glass bottle in which transfusion fluids were prepared in NSB basement. Then he asked me if I knew how to drain out petrol from a scooter. We walked to his scooter and made me pull the pipe out of the carburetor nozzle and drain out 200 ml of petrol in the glass bottle. After securing the pipe nozzle junction to his complete satisfaction we walked down the stairs to the X Ray room.
That night I learned one of the greatest lessons of my professional life. He pulled out a bag of tools from his locker. He then showed me how to dust and clean the machine every day before using the machine. He went on to dismantle the entire machine and showed me the anatomy of an X Ray machine. Finally he pulled out a fuse and said that was the usual culprit. It surely was. He had a box of fuses and I was asked to find a matching one. He inserted it in its socket and sure enough the machine sprang back to life. After disconnecting the main plug he then started putting back the machine piece by piece. My job was to wash and clean the parts he passed on to me in petrol and with a small brush and dry them so that he can put them back. By 4 AM the job was done and the machine was ready for action. As I cleaned the room he left for home but not before telling me that once I am done I can start calling the remaining head injury patients for their carotid angiograms because we will require them for Prof. Dave's morning round.
Not only X Ray machines, I have seen Dr. Chabra repairing OT lights, Cautery machines, ICU beds, OT table and that has left an indelible impression on my mind. Though I did not choose Neurosurgery as a career but from Dr. Chabra I have learned that if you respect your surgical equipments, they will respect you. You have to personally take care of them and they will last your lifetime. No manufacturer or service personnel can pull the wool over your eyes. I always respected him as 'a guru with a gurutwakarshan'!
Prof. Chabra was a true Georgian role model. A perfectionist to the core, time was of no consequence to him. Late night operations and dressings were a norm and often instead of returning home in the dead of the night he would sleep in the corner of the OT. He had this sixth sense and on quite a few occasions I have seen him bring an operated patient back to the theatre in the nick of time to prevent a sure disaster. Neurological physical signs which eluded us yelled at him and the fundus of the patient's eyes is where he often found the reason to the OT.
He was a great teacher, a kind and compassionate doctor, a technically brilliant surgeon and an outstanding human being! He was God's gift to his residents.
No comments:
Post a Comment