Page 24 - The Indian EYE 012425

NORTH AMERICAN Newsline JANUARY 24, 2025 | The Indian Eye 24

OBITUARY

DR. RANJIT NAGPAL

The Timeless Icon of Our Life

BY DR. RAJ BHAYANI the department, the great feeling we had when he
taught us then, has not faded a bit.
he passing away of Dr. Ranjit Nagpal is ex- There is no tapering off of our recollections
tremely shocking and as painful as loss of Dr. when it comes to matters involving all three teach-
TPandya. The second shining star of our life er’s Dr. Nagpal, Dr. Pandya and Dr. Karapurkar.
has fallen leaving us all in extreme grief. The risk The fond memories of radiology readings, in the
of love and respect is loss, and the price of loss is operating rooms, in the OPD, and on rounds; All
grief. But the pain of grief is only a shadow when of us tend to hold on to the best memories of our
compared with the pain of never risking love and young days and Dr. Nagpal and others in the de-
respect. partment were most certainly a big part of our best
We, all his students, are indebted to Dr. Ranjit memories in our life.
Nagpal and owed a lot of respect to him. The grief He loved us all so much that he worked harder
is always hard and we all grieve in different ways. than anyone else I know to give us the best possible
How much our teachers give to us, and how little chance in life. Dr. Nagpal knew better than anyone
they so often get in return, even from the students else that if he could succeed at giving us a clini-
who adore them. cal and practical knowledge of the neurosurgery,
And maybe that’s what I grieve about most, as our career as well as our life would be much easier,
I don’t feel like I gave that back to him. I wanted to much more fulfilling, much more successful.
but it was too little, too late. He truly believed that the greatest gift he could
If Dr. Pandya was the heart of Department of give to me and all those students is, make us all con-
Neurosurgery, Dr. Karapurkar was the soul, then prise, he asked me if I can do the trans sphenoidal fident neurosurgeons and medical professionals.
Dr. Nagpal was undoubtedly the brain of Neuro- approach for his pituitary adenoma patients. He We can definitely proclaim that every person
surgery department at King Edward Memorial gave me the microscope and actually assisted me, who ever had Dr. Nagpal as a teacher will tell you
(KEM) Hospital. which was an experience of a lifetime. That literally that he was the absolute best of best.
His clinical acumen, his surgical expertise, his boosted my confidence in self and my morale had The sorrow we feel when we lose a loved one is
focus on precision and meticulousness was exem- grown hundred times, thereafter. He saw some- the price we pay to have had them in our lives. Dr.
plary and par excellence in true sense. thing in me that day, which I did not see in me at Nagpal touched our hearts in very special ways that
He took every opportunity to pour his positive that time. The feeling I had that day is something we can never, ever accurately or fully explain with
energy into me and every other willing student he which is impossible to put in words. Yet, it occurred the mere mortal tools of these writings and words.
found. Dr. Nagpal strived relentlessly to guide us to me that Dr. Nagpal whom we considered to be Dear Dr. Nagpal Sir, you will be truly missed.
towards excellence and at the same time, he ex- the best educator we had ever; was an absolute A heart once touched by love and respect will nev-
pected from us nothing else but excellence. timeless icon of our life. er be the same, and the void left by your absence
It’s okay to say that at times he was tough or Though decades have passed since we all sat in can never be filled.
demanding— those are the qualities of a real pro-
fessional teacher.
When I heard the news of his passing away,
there were so many thoughts and memories that
raced through my head just like all of you would be
experiencing.
We all can fondly remember the legendary
rounds with him on every Friday, where on call
resident Doctor would be anxious the whole night
before the round, preparing and checking all the
details two or three times to make sure he would
not fumble in front of him. I still remember those
pranks we played on our senior colleagues. We
would admit a new unexpected patient from the ER
and bring to the ward just before the round start-
ed and then witness the resident doctor presenting
that new patient literally sweating and trembling as
he would know nothing about the patient.
The best honor of my life was when he gave
me the opportunity to operate with him during the
trans sphenoidal surgery when I was just finishing
up the first year of residency. To my shock and sur-

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