A man quite like no other
When I first met Dr KK Aggarwal 10 years ago, my first reaction was, ‘Why hadn’t I met him sooner?’ He was that sort of person. At the time, he was the spirit behind the MTNL Health Mela, an annual free medical check-up, health awareness and lifestyle jamboree that thousands of people attended. Every year, he would add elements to the event, to make it more inclusive and holistic. I had approached him for guidance in organising a large medical camp in Rajasthan. He hand-held the organisers, even roping in hospitals, experts, pharmaceutical companies and philanthropists to ensure the event was a success.
Every time we spoke or met, he emphasised the need to educate people about healthy practices. His busy schedule, often at the expense of his own health and leisure, would be crammed with initiatives spanning from advancement of public awareness of medicine to making quality medical services available to the needy. Whenever I offered to pay him consultation fees for seeing an indigent patient I had referred him, he’d shrug it off. After he became the president of the Indian Medical Association, the place was crackling with energy and initiative. I was in the building next door and would often walk to his office for warmth and inspiration. Although always at the centre of a cloud of admirers, he made room for those at the periphery, ordering and reordering his time to accommodate those who most needed it.
At the time, I was thinking of innovative ways to improve taxpayer compliance. One day, he suggested that he and other leading cardiologists appear in an advertisement to inform the public that paying their taxes on time was good for their hearts. How he convinced other luminaries of the field to lend their name to the ad, I would never know. Around the same time, I fainted at home. My hysterical wife rushed me to the hospital where Dr Aggarwal took over. I was conscious enough to overhear his exchange with an ER physician in which, failing to make headway with my wife, he said he would sign the consent form as my father. Soon, he became physician and healer to my whole family. After examining my father-in-law’s heart, who was then in his 70s, Dr Aggarwal told him he would live a hundred years. That assurance has been central to my father-in-law’s willpower to keep going.
Watching him at work was a lesson in nurturing talent around him, pushing them into challenging assignments and tougher roles. The story of Dr Aggarwal’s round-the-clock commitment ever since Covid-19 befell India is well known by now. His journey during the past year and a half saw him emerge as the leading public intellectual of the pandemic. Single-handedly, supported by volunteers who subscribed to his vision of health for all, he delivered scientifically validated information to millions in easily digestible bites day after day, took questions from every part of India, and kept his followers abreast of fresh developments.
It is hard to put a number on the lives saved by his efforts. He was an educator till his last breath. In the battle against ignorance and misinformation, he led from the front. Every Teacher’s Day on September 5, also his birthday, we will have an opportunity to remember him and to keep walking the path he illuminated. I miss you, sir. I speak on behalf of millions.
The author is a physician and an Indian Revenue Service officer
AFortune smiles on you on the financial front and adds to your wealth. Rivals are likely to beat you at the game of one-upmanship on the professional front.
LOVE FOCUS: You may feel tormented as lover becomes incommunicado with you over some issue.
LUCKY NUMBER: 17 LUCKY COLOUR: Dark Grey
TPrevious investments may start giving handsome returns. Good health is assured, but only through your efforts. A job well done can take you places on the career front.
LOVE FOCUS: A new look may help in winning appreciation from the one you like.
LUCKY NUMBER:
Light Green
G15
LUCKY COLOUR:
Health will remain excellent as you take all precautionary measures. Those studying outside can expect some extra pocket money from home. You shine at work as your talents get recognised.
LOVE FOCUS: A blissful existence is foreseen for those newly married. LUCKY NUMBER: 11 LUCKY COLOUR: Cream
LPrevious investments are set to improve your financial situation. Your health can turn for the better, if you exercise self-discipline. Those in two minds about developing a property will need to make right decision. LOVE FOCUS: Some are likely to experience total bliss on the romantic front. LUCKY NUMBER: 7 LUCKY COLOUR: Rosy Brown
ISome previous investments are likely to mature to make your bank balance healthy. Health food may not be enough to come back in the desired shape.
LOVE FOCUS: Those waiting for romance to happen can be in for a long wait!
LUCKY NUMBER:
Magenta
White
6
LUCKY COLOUR:
Grey