An associate remembers the doctor as an extraordinary person with a broad vision, a father figure to his students
Dr B K Goyal
On Tuesday morning, I got a call from Breach Candy Hospital saying Dr B K Goyal was unwell and had been brought into the casualty. I hardly had time to process this information, when I got the news that he was no more. The news spread like wildfire on the doctors' grapevine, thanks to the lightning fast communication we have these days. I got the feeling of falling into an abyss. For a second or two, I just felt very, very low, like I know many of my colleagues did too.
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I will remember Dr Goyal as an extraordinary person. His outstanding trait was that he went beyond cardiology. His vision was broader than that. It was this all-encompassing view that formed the base on which he built and developed the Bombay Hospital institute. I liked how he made his way around young people, never condescending, and yet such a father figure to his students. In search of a better way to describe it, I can only say that he was "very good" with young persons.
I did not work with him directly, but we used to meet at conventions, in hospitals too. We were also examiners together at times, though he was senior to me. I used to observe how he remembered and called each person he had met by name. This was remarkable because he met so many people every single day; I used to wonder how he could remember all their names! Maybe he just had a knack with names, but I would like to think that it spoke of a deep, personal connection he had with people.
He was generally calm and a private person. I would not know too much of what he did outside his work or the medical sphere; we did not talk about that too much when we met. Yet, I remember we did talk about how the media had on several occasions tarnished the medical profession, smearing every doctor with the same brush. He used to concur when I would say that the media is rushing to judge everybody these days. They can report the facts but are certainly not in any position to pass judgement on everything. I think this was an aspect of the media that used to disappoint him.
We also discussed global medical developments. I could feel his excitement when we talked about whether we were standing on the cusp of a medical breakthrough, so great was his thirst for more knowledge and even at his level, it was not sated. When institutions like Dr B K Goyal go away, they do not just leave behind family, friends, students, patients, workplaces and colleagues. They leave behind a medical legacy, and that is what this 'person extraordinaire' I would like to remember him as, has done.
Dr B K Goyal no more
Dr B K Goyal, 82, senior cardiologist attached to Bombay Hospital passed away on Tuesday morning in Mumbai. He was the head of the department of cardiology at Bombay Hospital. Dr Goyal died due to a massive cardiac arrest at his home. He was declared dead on reaching the Breach Candy hospital. He was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan.
- As told to Hemal Ashar
Dr Brian Pinto is Chief of Cardiology and Director Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, Holy Family Hospital, Mumbai
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