Sunday, August 2, 2009

Down the memory lane

Shall I start it from positive perspective?He was one of the best best person I ever had the privilege of meeting.Though he is no more with us and that I have not seen him in his last 30 years,I still remember him.He was a very disciplined person and expected the same from everyone under his mercy.I was,for he was my teacher.He was a surgeon, a teacher,a very able administrator and to cap it all a decent human being.Dr.R.H.N.Shenoy was a man whom you can never forget if you have met him once in your life and he was my teacher for a full three years,luckily.
It was the mid seventies when he was transfered to Bellary Medical College where I was in my second year of M.B;B.S.We had arranged a reception to him and one of my friends had informed me about Dr.shenoy being a singer.During his reply to our welcome I started shouting from behind a desk(we never wanted to be spotted on the very first day)'sir,a song please'.He coolly looked in the general direction of the shout and started-kaahe ko raar machaye,a song made immortal by K.L.Saigal and we were stunned by his voice.That was the beginning,Dr.Shenoy never forgot me,for he had realised it was me who had shouted and I was under the impression that he never saw me shouting!
Then came the 77 elections.I was an opposer of the internal emergency enforced by Mrs.Indira Gandhi and I plunged into election campaigning not realizing that it was none of my business. I had to finish my studies. The elections took nearly 2 months and I never attended my classes.And then came November 77 and I still remember,it was a Thursday and time for Surgery class by Dr.Shenoy who incidentally was the principal too.At the end of the class he seriously looked at me and said'Mr.Bhat,meet me after the class in my office"I knew the axe was going to fall and it did.
I entered his office and stood like a criminal caught in the act,and he tells me-Mr.Bhat,you do not have sufficient attendence this year and I will be refusing to let you take your examination in December,why did you not attend your classes he asks.I tell him-sir I was not well.'What was wrong?'sir I met with an accident,Where? Sir in Mangalore,So?, Sir I had a fractured leg,'Who treated you?', Sir my uncle,'Where is the X-ray',Sir at home.Says he'Mr. Bhat don't tell me this cock and bull story,I know what is the reason,you went and canvassed during that election.And started his harangue.Said he,'You people,you don't realize it is none of your business to play politics while in college and now see what is the consequence,you can not write your examination.You write your exams in May and you can take your final year in December and let me watch you and see how you manage to do it.That was the last thing any teacher could have told me.It used to be very common for a student to loose that kind of challenge in Medical Colleges those days.A teacher could and did see that a particular student passed or failed.I was quite arrogant and should not have told but told anyway-'sir I will do it'He said 'all the best to you'.Though I secretly hoped he would relent at the last moment,he did not.And I had to take that term exam six months later.
As a matter of record nobody in our college had managed to take pre-final and final year exam in the same year and got away with it.
Under such circumstances it was a routine to inform the parents about the fact.And there used to be a printed format which was filled and sent to the parent.Usually students who faced my predicament wanted to prevent exactly this and were able to get a blank one and send it to parents advising them not to worry if they received similar notice.As I was no exception,I too went to the college office the next day to do just that.To my dismay the concerned clerk showed me a handwritten letter addressed to my father.Our principal had personally written it!Ultimately my father came to know about this.He was so broadminded that he never said a word to me.He was the greatest man I came across in my life.
After a couple of months I was returning to class from the hospital after work(medical students work in the hospital in the mornings and attend theory classes in the afternoons)and right in front was coming our dear Dr.Shenoy from the opposite direction.One thing I have to concede,when it came to admonishing students his language was so flowery and fluent, we had no chance to interrupt(In fact it was very entertaining).'Where are you going?' (Sir,to attend my theory class.)I know how you attend your classes,you people,you attend political meetings,don't attend classes and wander in the corridors,what are you doing here,counting pigs?-I studied in Bellary which is famous for pigs!This went on for 5 minutes and finally he let me go my way.Later I realized he was angry with me because my father had written to him holding the Principal responsible for my behavior(not attending the classes).You know according to Hindu philosophy the Guru is supposed to be like father in GURUKULA(equivalent to a residential school which mine was)
In the year '78 I wrote my final exam,and fortunately I had passed,a feat as I've already mentioned,nobody in the past had done it in our college.
On my first day as intern I was posted to emergency ward,and to my horror our dear Dr.Shenoy was waliking towards me.'what are you doing here he barks'- sir I am on emergency duty.As what?As a houseman.He looked as though he didn't believe me and asked'did you pass bhatta?'and I can never forget the way he extended his hand and shook mine and said 'congratulations,doctor' A lesser mortal would have seen that I never passed the examination but not our dear DR.Shenoy.
One day I asked him why he had rejected a very good offer from a private hospital with a generous package of compensation for which his reply with a mischievous smile was that it was not a teaching hospital. (ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಡುಗ್ರು ಇಲ್ವೋ)When it came to teaching he was a dear!

He was a teacher par excellence,to the core,and without a batch of students to harangue he could never sleep.
An year ago he breathed his last after having done a surgery lasting for three hours at the age of 84 years.
After 1978 there was not a single day with me not remembering him at least once.Every time a student of Dr.Shenoy meets another they have a new issue to recount about him.May God rest his soul in peace.

1 comment:

Govinda Nelyaru said...

Dear Doctor

Felt heartened to hear about Dr.R.H.N.Shenoy. It is common that teachers carry grudge and spoil the life and career of the students. A few inattentive moments in the PUC class proved very expensive to me by a chemistry teacher who came as examiner for practicals in Final B Sc in a different college 100 km away. I am not alone to suffer like this. So this story stands out and may we have more teachers like Dr.R.H.N.Shenoy.

Govind

About Me

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Puttur, Karnataka, India
Medical doctor,arrogant,self centred,can be very helping. Concerned about the falling standards in ethics.Advocate discretion in lifestyle instead of regretting after the fact