It took all of 59 minutes to have the heart in and working on the bypass…. and then it started beating on its own! That first, ironically heart-stopping, tick-tock remains special even today, even though I’ve held my breath at this point in a surgery multiple times every day for all of my life.
Five hours later, we knew we had passed the operation phase with flying colors. We went and informed B. Shankaranand, then MoH and AIIMS President, who was on the premises. He insisted that we issue a press release…. and then the floodgates opened. The next morning’s newspapers headlined the event, there was incessant clamor by the press to get more details, congratulatory messages began raining in from well-wishers, politicians and the common people. In the months ahead, Parliament would recognize this landmark event.
That year, India had many firsts; even as Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen were crowned and won hearts around the world, we gave a new heart to someone, an extended life of many years. As the swirl grew every day, I would walk up and down the ICU, trying to dodge all this attention. It was important to me to stay focused on bringing succor to those under my care, important to stay true to a promise I’d made to myself three decades back when I left home in Rajamundhry to come to AIIMS as a 16-year-old student….

As told to Priya Sarkar (wife)
(the next post will be about growing up, dreaming of being a surgeon)