|
|
OBITUARY |
|
|
|
Year : 2019 | Volume
: 24
| Issue : 3 | Page : 157 |
|
Obituary
Sachchidananda Das
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Park Medical Research and Welfare Society, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Date of Web Publication | 6-Jun-2019 |
Correspondence Address: Dr. Sachchidananda Das 35C, R M Dutta Garden Lane, Kolkata - 700 010, West Bengal India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jiaps.JIAPS_63_19
How to cite this article: Das S. Obituary. J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2019;24:157 |

Prof. A. K. Nandy 1934–2019
Professor Achintya Kumar Nandy was born at Ramrajatala of Howrah district, West Bengal, in 1934. He did his MBBS in 1957 from Medical College, Calcutta, and MS in General Surgery from Lucknow University. Thereafter, he joined West Bengal Health Services and worked at Sambhunath Pandit Hospital, Kolkata, for a brief period. He then went to England for higher training. He worked there at Hospital for Sick Children Great Ormond Street and Alder Hay Childrens' Hospital, Liverpool, the two premier institutions of Pediatric Surgery in UK. In Liverpool, he had the opportunity to work with P P Rikham, a legendary pediatric surgeon. During his stay in England, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
In 1973, he returned to Kolkata and joined Prof. Subir Kumar Chatterjee to work as a pediatric surgeon at NRS Medical College Hospital, Kolkata. Since then, I was associated with him and spent many memorable days. He became professor of pediatric surgery and in 1985 succeeded Prof Chatterjee as head of the department. In between, he worked at Bankura Sammilani Medical College Hospital as a teacher of pediatric surgery. After his retirement from West Bengal Medical Education Service, he joined the Institute of Child Health as a faculty member and worked for the underprivileged children. At NRS Medical College, he guided many M. Ch. trainees till his last day superannuation in 1993. He was the Organizing Secretary of the Asian Congress of Pediatric Surgeons which was held in Kolkata in 1986. He loved teaching very much. Even after his retirement, he used to participate in the M. Ch. teaching sessions regularly. He loved his students so much that often he went out of his way to help others. He was the President of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons (IAPS) and presided over the Srinagar conference in 1989. Dr. Nandy had been associated with JIAPS since its inception in Kolkata in 1995.
He had a good command in both English and Bengali and authored five books. He worked extensively on Atish Dipankar, a Bengali Buddhist religious leader who traveled and taught Buddhism in Tibet and lived in Sumatra for 12 years in and around 1000 CE. Dr. Nandy's book on Atish Dipankar was a great success and was highly appreciated by the Buddhist society and in general. Besides, he was a frequent columnist in contemporary newspapers, particularly on scientific topics.
Dr. Nandy passed away on February 20, 2019, at his residence at Lake Gardens, Kolkata. He is survived by his wife, Deepika, daughter Nina, and son-in-law Tapan Kumar Ghosh. With Dr. Nandy's demise, we have lost one among the first generation of Indian pediatric surgeons. May his soul rest in peace.
|