Dr Kishalay Choudhury MS
Dr Kishalay Choudhury
March 10, 2024, 07:23:51
Obituary by Biswanath Bhattacharya
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च।
तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि।
This morning, while I was sipping tea, I received a call from one of my nearest ones informing me that Dr Kishalay Choudhury, MS, is no more. He has departed for the world from where nobody returns.
He was in Kolkata. In the morning, he went for a morning walk- as usual, and suffered a massive stroke. He was brought to the hospital dead.
Dr Choudhury is my next-door neighbour and is, in fact, more than my relatives. His son Shameek ( Kanishka) is as good as my son.
Dr Choudhury decided that his palatial building be made into flats. I must say, it is the best building in our locality.
The promoters have also started the work. He had taken one flat nearby on rent and soon went to Kolkata to his son.
Dr Choudhury was one of the best surgeons at Agartala. Patients from North East India flocked to Agartala for gallbladder surgery. He was the best surgeon in this area.
He was not only a good surgeon, as a man, but he was also an exceptional one. Everybody is standing, but you must stand out. Everybody is breaking ground, but you must break through! Everybody is scratching it, but you must mark it hard! Everybody is going, but you must keep going the extra mile! Dare to be exceptionally excellent, and why not?
He rose from abject poverty. He used to tell me how he fought with poverty and passed his MBBS Degree from Dibrugarh Medical College.
He joined the Government service but resigned from it. He was aiming for the sky and soon became an instant success. Veni Vidi Vici.
He was an avid reader. He donated books of lakhs of Rupees to an old bookstall free of charge.
The day he departed from his building at Agartala, I saw his music collection, Unimaginable. Right from Begam Akhtar to Ravi Shankar. And whatnot. He was the true concessioner of Rabindra Sangeet and Sitar Recital.
Some people have wealth, but few have the decency to live in style. He was living his life, not a lifestyle.Dr Kishalay lived in a decent style. He was the first one to buy an Audi car in Agartala. I have seen him changing as many as six cars.
Whenever he felt terrible or let down, he recited the choicest poems. Once upon a time, I also suffered from a bit of depression. He asked me to read Rabindranath and Keats, Shelly and Byron, etc. When I insisted on medicine, he bluntly told me that I did not require medicine at all. These poems are my medicine.
He was a Cinema buff, too. He had the DVDs/VCDs of the best films. I always found him hooked to Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, watching the choicest films.
He had bypass surgery earlier, but he could not give up the quit of the habit of smoking. He used to buy two fags after every two hours. He used to walk almost a hundred meters to buy these fags. One day, I gave him a Cartoon of India Kings Cigarette. I noticed in the describable joy of glee. I told him not to smoke for more than five a day, but I knew he would be finishing the cartoon in a week, and so he did. He used to smoke earlier Charminar Cigarettes and then switched to Wills and Gold Flake Light.
The Medical Representatives gave him excellent fountain pens, and he invariably gave me two or three in a month. Today, I also wrote with the fountain pen he gave me.
He was like a lotus. The beauty of his heart did speak. He was grateful for the mud, water, air, and light. Whenever he should doubt his self-worth, he remembered the lotus flower.
A few days ago, my friend Shah Alam came from Bangladesh. Suddenly, he was oozing blood through his nose. It was dead of night. I unhesitatingly went to his residence. He examined him thoroughly and prescribed the necessary medicine. When Shah Alam asked about his fees, he just thrashed him. From none of my brothers he charged a single penny. He also treated the poor without cost and even bore their medical expenditure.
A rarity in the medical profession !!! Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person!
For the last few months, I unmistakably noticed the shadow of death in his face. Daily, I told him to take care of his health. He must have been annoyed, but I did not care. Death was writ large on his face. Life is hard. Then you die. Then they throw dirt in your face. Then the worms eat you, so be grateful it happens in that order.
After the death of Boudi in the Covid period ( his wife ), he became more passive. And his son Shameek was his only consolation. Shameek. An established engineer used to stay in Kolkata in their residence.
He did not believe in the omnipresent God—he was a total atheist. I have never heard the sound of any conch shell from his house. Nor did he wear any ring – even his wedding ring. There is no comparison to Dr Kishalay; he is his own comparison.
He has gone into the galaxy of light, twinkling like a star.
My Doctor is no more! (Written by Biswanath Bhattacharya)
(Tripurainfo)