APJ Abdul Kalam is more a teacher than a missile man

In fact, our very first discussion in the year 2000 was about medical education. Over the years I had grown increasingly disillusioned over the stagnant state of medical education. It had remained locked in the same state since my days as an undergraduate student of medicine. 

I knew of Dr Kalam’s interest in progressive science and hence told him about my vision for the future. I wished for a revision of the curriculum of the first year of the MBBS course as it still covered the same courses that I studied in 1959-1964. Medicine had advanced by leaps and bounds but the curriculum remained the same. This was disheartening. 

I wished to introduce a new curriculum which would include basic sciences such as tissue engineering, stem cells and genetics. Under the new system, the MBBS course would have been for five and a half years, instead of the four and a half currently followed, and would include one year of internship. The students could use this period to write dissertations of the work covered by them during the one year break they take after the 1st MBBS course. Or they could study basic sciences and earn a double doctorate with a PhD. Dr Kalam was very enthusiastic about the idea. 

He greatly appreciated my vision for an improved MBBS curriculum and when I requested, readily agreed to be one of the advisers of Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). Another incident that comes to my mind when I think of his interest in medicine is the Parumala event. 

I had opened the Parumala unit (St Gregorios Cardio Vascular Centre) in Kerala, the first super-specialty hospital in a remote village with a population of 6,300. When I invited him for a visit, he agreed to do so. He was to arrive at a school ground in a helicopter and was to be escorted to the venue by road. On the day of the visit, however, a bad cyclone made it impossible to land. 15 minutes away from landing, the pilot and security personnel advised to cancel the trip and return to base. 

Dr Kalam instructed Ramana Shrivastava, DGP of Kerala, who was accompanying them to contact me from the helicopter. Dr Kalam spoke to me and explained the situation. He told me that he would interact with the gathering through a teleconference. He also assured me that he would visit the facility later, a promise that he kept. He visited the Parumala center on December 18 in 2005 to inaugurate the International Pediatric Cardiac Centre. He was so impressed by the centre that he extended his 45-minute visit to two hours of interaction with patients. 

I realised the deep impact the centre had created on his mind in 2006. During his address to the nation from the Red Fort on occasion of the 57th Republic Day celebrations, he spoke of his visit to our Parumala Hospital. His words were a pat on my back and I cherish them to this day. He said, “At Parumala in Kerala the International Centre for Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Diseases is providing specialised treatment to heart patients in rural areas”. The Dr Kalam that I knew was a man of great character and an eager mind open to new ideas. 

He was a great teacher who inspired a generation to excel and follow their dreams. It was a sad day indeed when he passed from our midst. Great men may leave the physical world, but their influence will continue to guide us and colour our lives for ages to come. So too will Dr Kalam’s contribution and character. 

 — Dr KM Cherian is the Chairman  and CEO of Frontier Lifeline Hospital