Barmeshwar Baby – My Friend
Dr. R. S. Prasad
Prof. & H.O.D. of F.M.T.
My association
with Barmeshwar Babu dates back to our college days at P.
W. Medical
College , Patna where he was two years senior to me. We
were introduced to each other by our common friend B.B.P. Roy (later, Principal
of Rajendra Medical College, Ranchi )
my batch-mate.
My first
intimate encounter with Barmeshwar Babu took place in October 1949 in the
Guzari ward of P.M.C.H. where I was working as a house-physician. He used to
visit the wards to refresh his clinical knowledge before leaving for England
for his M.R.C.P. degree. In those days he was very slim and used to come to the
ward in a brand new suit, shirts buttoned up to the neck (without a tie) and a
new pair of Bata shoes. He had an aversion for ties. To me he appaeared to be a
smart, young gentleman, bubbling with knowledge and enthusiasm with a
particular sound base in pathology. It has always been by my conviction that
pathology forms a basis of all clinical knowledge. Late Dr. B. N. Banerjee was
a demonstrator in pathology before he went on to become a renowned professor of
Surgery after getting his F.R.C.S. degree in the shotest possible time.
I used to tell
Barmeshwar Babu, “Sir, you should not worry at all. You will be a great success
in your life.” My prophecy turned out to be absolutely correct when Barmeshwar
Babu returned with his M.R.C.P. degree in a very short time. In England ,
he was contemporary to Dr. R. H. P. Sinha (Later Prof. of Ophthalmology,
P.M.C.H.) and Dr. L. Kant (Later Prof. of P.S.M., P.M.C.H.). On their return,
they were full of praise and admiration for Barmeshwar Babu’s phenomenal
devotion to studies and his thorough knowledge. The famous Professor Beaumount
was Dr. Prasad’s teacher. He had a great liking for Barmeshwar Babu and out of
affection and love called him ‘Prasada’.
On his return to
India ,
Dr. Prasad was appointed as tutor of Medicine at D.M.C.H. With his diligence,
and clinical acumen he earned a great name and fame for himself all over North
Bihar and even beyond its boundary to Nepal . He deservingly got quick
promotions and came to Ranchi
in 1962 as the founder professor and H.O.D. of Medicine, R.M.C.H., where I was
the Deputy Superintendent. Here we had again an opportunity to come close.
My residence was
a favourite rendezvous where Barmeshwar Babu came regularly along with late Dr.
B.B.P. Roy, Dr. K.D. Choudhary and Dr. B.P. Mishra to play cards. Barmeshwar
Babu’s favourite dish, like any Shahabadi. Was gram. My wife used to serve
various preparations of gram with the usual accompaniment of onions and green
pepper. While helping himself to a good bite of pepper, he used to bemoan that
he was a patient of peptic ulcer, as such spices were harmful for him. Well,
habits die hard.
Those evenings
at my residence were of complete relaxation with all sorts of gossips and
‘Chandu Khane Ka Gapp’ – an assembly of ‘Madakis’. Barmeshwar Babu’s exchanges
with Dr. B.B.P. Roy, his old room-mate provided us with a lot of amusement. Dr.
Roy was a bit weak in bridge and to start the fun, I used to say to Barmeshwar
Baby, ‘Sir, Dr. Roy is your old partner and with him you are sure to win.’ At
once came his retort, ‘He is a dunce. I don’t want to raise my B.P.’ Then
commenced the wordy duel between the two. We took advantage of the situation
and used to add a little fat to the fire and then enjoyed their battle of wits.
After a few
years he steadily became busy in his work and the most sought-after physician
in town so that he was unable to spare much time. We, however, talked a great
deal when we met by chance covering a wide variety of topics ranging from
domestic affairs, religion, economics to politics. At the end he used to say in
Bhojpuri, “you
were deputy superintendent but nothing came of it” . I used to reply in jest,
“Please don’t say that I haven’t done anything for you. I have sent a maid
servant to your place to do all your jobs.” This provided food for our
laughter.
His many
engagements left him little time to discharge his domestic obligations. This he
always resented and lamented.
Time passed by
and we all reached the fag end of our careers. Dr. Roy left us earlier and now
our most beloved colleague has left for his heavenly adobe.
I still cannot
believe that he has left us for good. I wish it were only a nightmare and
everything would be al-right again. But……….”
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