A few days ago I was attending Cardiac Anesthesia conference in Chennai. We were about to ride a bus arranged to take us to the venue. I happened to get on the bus alone full of unknown people from Chennai. I introduced myself as Dr. Alka Mandke to the young boy sitting next to me and asked who he was. He said he is a cardiac surgeon. I said my husband was a cardiac surgeon too. He asked my name again and suddenly stood up and joined his hands in respect. I asked what happened. He said, "Madam, your husband was a great man. I did not know anything about him until I heard him deliver presidential address in year 2002 here in Chennai. I had just joined Mch Cardiac surgery course then and I was so impressed with his speech that I have still kept the print of the speech and use it for inspiration every now and then. I am very glad to meet you. We still feel surprised and sad the way he passed away. It was indeed a great loss for us..." and he went on... This was very unexpected and yet a pleasant surprise. I remembered the time we were in Chennai for that Presidential Address with my daughters Charuta and Jui. Nitu was seriously ill the previous day due to some severe allergy. When he gave the Presidential address the next day that mesmerised some 700 odd doctors, there was no sign of his illness of the day before. It felt really nice to have met this young doctor who remembered that speech he'd heard 7 years back as if it happened yesterday! I am reminded of Nitu's tenacity, oratory skills and vision with such incidents and that moves me on...
Nitu as President of Indian Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (IACTS) with other members of the executive committee.
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