Was
thinking about why Prakash Shetty touched me so much, and why I so fondly
remember him.
It
was about the end of our first year, I got called by Kalyankar and Mr. Sharma,
and they asked me why I was so disinterested and doing so poorly. I told them I
could not put my heart into studies and was very bored. They made a “plan” for
me. In that plan, they asked Anandappa to “help” me.
A
couple of days later Anandappa took his task seriously, and at the physiology
lab decided to openly confront me about why I was not taking my work seriously.
I showed irritation and pretty much appeared unhappy with his intrusive
approach. Swarna in her own gentle way said “Maybe, he is is not using his
potential…”. Anyway, Shetty appeared and saw me distraught. He calmed the
situation. Next day he took me to coffee and spoke to me for over an hour.
I
really liked his approach. He tried to get to know me and asked what my
interests were and why I was not motivated. I opened my bare chest to him.
He
then said “You are a very sensitive boy. You seem hurt. I am also seeing you
want to be in a field that needs original thinking and is something different
and not so rule-based. But you know training to be a doctor is very different
from training to be a scientist. Try and focus on your studies as best as you
can. But if being a scientist inspires you, come by and we can talk. I am
always available. I live in the quarters and am also hostel warden. Don’t pick
up fights with Dr. Anandappa. Don’t get hurt.”
Almost
40 years later, Prakash, Anura, and I sat at the cafeteria at the research
institute and discussed what it takes to train minds that are curious and into
the science of medicine.
When
Shetty died, Anura and I exchanged a simple text: “A giant has fallen”.
