Harbhajan Singh Rissam | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 August 1951 Jammu,Jammu and Kashmir, India |
| Died | 17 October 2013(2013-10-17) (aged 62) Jammu, India |
| Resting place | Shastri Nagar Cremation Ground, Jammu, J&K 32°41′22″N74°51′11″E / 32.68944°N 74.85306°E /32.68944; 74.85306 |
| Occupations | Interventional cardiologist Writer |
| Known for | Cardiology Medi-fiction |
| Spouse | Balbir Kaur Rissam |
| Parent | Ranjeet Kaur |
| Awards | Padma Shri |
Harbhajan Singh Rissam (10 August 1951 – 17 October 2013) was an Indian interventional cardiologist, philanthropist[1] and writer, known for his medical service and his novel based on medical profession.[2] He was the director of cardiac clinical services atMax Healthcare, Delhi and his maiden novel,The Scalpel - Game Beneath,[3] the first book of a proposed trilogy published in 2010, is a medical thriller on the medicine mafia.[4] The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of thePadma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to medical science.[5]
Harbhajan Singh Rissam, born in 1951 inJammu in a Kashmiri Sikh family,[6] in the northern state ofJammu and Kashmir, did his early schooling at Central Basic School, Jammu after which he graduated in science fromGovernment Gandhi Memorial Science College.[7] When his family fled fromPoonch, he moved with them to Punjab and secured his medical degree fromGovernment Medical College, Amritsar with gold medal before completing his MD in cardiology atPostgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.[8] Starting his career at the Government Gandhi Memorial Science College[9] and after a stint in Saudi Arabia, he returned to India to joinApollo Hospital, Delhi as an interventional cardiologist but, later, moved toMax Healthcare, Delhi as the director of cardiac clinical services.[1] In between, he was also associated withSher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences,Sri Nagar,Fortis Healthcare and Batra Hospital, New Delhi.[7] He published over 100 medical papers in various national and international journals and presented papers at medical conferences including the conference onConquering Heart Disease in the Himalayan Region of the Cardiac Society of Nepal, held in November 2010.[10] He served as a member of the board of governors of theMedical Council of India, the apex body for medical education in India.[11][12] He was appointed as a member ofMedical Council of India Board of Governors on 14 May 2011 after its reconstitution by Union Health Ministry.[13] He was also a member of the Asia Pacific Vascular Society[14] and the Cardiological Society of India.[15]
Rissam, who had a penchant for writing, published his first short story,Moscow Street, when he was thirteen.[16] In 2006, he took a long break from work and stayed in Paris for three months where he wrote a novel and in 2010, he published it under the titleThe Scalpel - Game Beneath, which was a medical thriller on the mafia activities associated with medical tourism andorgan trade. The novel, considered by many as an attempt atwhistle-blowing, was reported to be the first insider account by a practising doctor in India[9] and the first medical thriller by an Indian author.[17] He planned two more novels based on happenings at a medical institute, to complete a trilogy of medical thrillers, but they were never published.[18] The Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of thePadma Shri in 2006.[5]
Rissam was married to Balbir Kaur, a medical doctor, and the couple had a son, Harbir Singh Rissam and a daughter, Harmeet Kaur.[7] He is survived by his mother Ranjeet Kaur, Brother Jujhar Singh Rissam, Nephews Satwant Singh Rissam & Sandeep Singh Rissam.[19] His younger nephew Sandeep Singh Rissam is an Engineer by qualification & was working with him in his philanthropy and social works like organizing Blood Donation awareness and other projects .[20] He died on 17 October 2013, succumbing to an infection for which he had been hospitalized atMax Healthcare, Delhi. He was cremated at a cremation ground in Shastri Nagar, Jammu, the next day.[7]
