Hot Seat

Destiny's Favourite Child

Legendary cardiac surgeon and Chairman of Frontier Lifeline- Dr KM Cherian (67) does a talkathon with Nancy Singh about his incredible journey to success and fame and about the metamorphosis that he is undergoing

His accomplishments, his astute clinical judgment, and his surgical dexterity are the envy of every Indian cardiac surgeon. Be it the first paediatriac heart transplant in India, the first bilateral lung transplant, the first successful coronary artery graft in India, the first auto transplant, first internal mammary artery graft in the country, mitral valve replacement for endomyocardial fibrosis in India, first successful bilateral internal mammary graft and the first heart and lung transplant, the 65-year-old KM Dr Cherian has done it all. Though his accomplishments have engraved his name in the annals of Indian's medical milestone, it is not the reason that innumerable patients see him as the last ray of hope for them.

When I drop in to meet Dr Cherian, fondly referred as KMC, at Chennai-based Frontier Lifeline Hospital, a institute that he founded in 2004, I come across a young 25-year-old Sikh patient who had come all the way from Ludhiana to get his heart operated. Every cardiac surgeon worth his salt have turned down this hapless patient telling him that it's too late for him. He had a hole in his heart. Then, Dr P Venugopal, Former AIIMS Medical Director and a renowned cardiologist himself, told him, "Down South there is a man called Dr KM Cherian. Go and meet him. If he agrees to operate, then you can be saved and if he says no, then nobody can help you!" And so, he followed this advice and landed up at Frontier Lifeline. He pleaded with all his heart to Dr Cherian to save him as he already was married and had a two-year-old daughter too. Much to his luck, KMC agreed to operate. And guess what? The operation was successful and he is recuperating well. Now that's what you call the magic or power of Dr Cherian. He rules the heart, literally!

Destined to be a Cardiologist?

Trying to get into the roots of his story, I first ask him to share what got him into medicine. I hit a wrong note with that question. Looking at the walls around him (which have pictures of him all around), he says, "God only knows, how many times I have told this story to everyone!" After pleading to repeat it once again, he continues, "Way back in the 1940s, my parents resided in the hills of Munnar in Kerala. My father was a planter and my mother a house-wife. I am the eldest one amongst my five siblings." Before you end up wondering what's all this about, he will clarify, "Don't worry, I'm telling you the same story of me and medicine's relation!" Point taken. He segues, "My mother was pregnant with me for three months. In those times, tribals used to come to the hilltop to sell groceries and other basic items. So, a tribal leader saw my mother vomiting profusely and he asked her if she is pregnant.” When Dr Cherian’s mother confirmed, the lady predicted, "You will have a son, who will be born on a Sunday at 12 noon. He will have a birth mark on his right wrist and he will become a doctor who operates on the heart!"

True to that prediction, every word of it came true. By now, you are already looking at the birth mark on his wrist in amazement. "And this prediction was at a time when heart surgery did not even arrive in India. It came 12 years later in 1954!" says KMC. And the best part is that his mother forgot about all this and did not even tell KMC, until he himself opted for medicine as a career! As a kid, KMC re-collects that he did not play too much with other kids and was not very naughty either. But KMC avidly recollects that as a child he used to catch lizards and dissect them with a blade and then would 'operate' on their hearts! "I firmly believe that if you are pre-ordained to do something nothing will stop you from achieving it."

Stand up for the Champion

A dash of destiny exists here too when he made history by conducting the first heart transplant. And here goes the story straight from the horse's mouth, "It was 22 September 1995, and I was looking out for a heart for a 32-year-old lady by the name of Hema Soundaryarajan. I contacted all the big names in the country but was refused help. Then, suddenly, I get a call from GH Hospital, Chennai, which I had somehow missed calling. They told me that they have a brain-dead woman by the name of Maimoon Banoo and their family would like to donate the heart. I agreed, but was wondering about how I will counsel the patient and the family." To his surprise or luck, the counseling had already been done by the hospital. Hours passed by and it was 3.30 in the morning when the operation completed and then somebody informed Dr Cherian that he was the first surgeon to do such an operation. "In sheer excitement, I called up my mother to tell her this in the middle of the night, without realising the time, as, in the OT you are hardly aware if it is day or night. When my mother picked up the phone, she got really worried. I calmed her down and told her what I have achieved," he recollects.

Overwhelmed with pride and joy, his mother told him it was the best birthday gift she ever got. "I realised, it was her birthday the next day! I was myself surprised at the choice of the day. And she is the same woman who already knew what I will achieve when I was in her womb itself! After that, whatever surgery I did became a 'first'. And my mother died the next year. The timing was so perfect that I am left wondering at the pattern of events," exclaims KMC.

He further adds, "At that time, metros like Mumbai and Delhi were the hotspots and everyone was in this 'race' to conduct this feat. Chennai was nowhere in the picture and last of all me. Before doing this transplant, I was not even aware that I would be the first person to conduct this feat. I did not even hold a fancy specialist medical degree, then. But somehow, events happened in such a manner that I became the first surgeon in India to do it."

Memory Bank!

One of the interesting aspects you will come across while interacting with Dr Cherian is the manner in which he takes you down memory lane, by mentioning the exact year, month, day, date and even the time at which it occurred! He remembers it perfectly as it is! He agrees, "I would not boast about this fact, but even I agree that I have a very sharp memory. You can go and ask anybody about this." He remembers each and every patient's name and bed number in his hospital. "Having a good memory really helps a doctor. It helps me establish that bonding with the patient. Even the patient is happy to be called by his name rather than a bed-number or acronyms like 'Mr or Ms'."

KMC recollects this incident while talking about memory. "Once a man was coming towards me and smiled at me. Even I smiled at him. Then I asked him whether he was 'Sivarajan'. When he confirmed, I asked him if he had a heart surgery of the left valve, 25 years ago. When he nodded in agreement, I even told him about his brother-in-law's name and the heart condition which he suffered from. In disbelief and excitement, he called his entire family to tell them about this," laughs KMC.

The Turning Point

There was a time when he was earning $64,000 in Australia as a cardiac surgeon way back in the 1970s. He has traveled across the globe and worked in the US and New Zealand. He has had the privilege to work with the best names in the cardiology world like Sir Barratt Boyes, Dr John W Kirklin and Dr Albert Starr. But he left it all and came back to India with his wife and kids to earn a paltry sum of Rs 782! When asked why would anyone do it, he replies, "There are many questions for which even I don't have answers for. Even I don't know why I came, but I just came." On further questioning about how his wife dealt with it, he answers, "She never really complained. She just followed wherever I went."

A Calmer and Cooler KMC

In the entire city of Chennai and even the medical fraternity, Dr Cherian has been infamously famous for his volatile temper. People have been terrified of his anger. He reacts, "Oh! In my earlier days, I definitely used to be an angry man, but now I am calmer. Every surgeon has this attitude that all the mistakes in the OT happen due to the nurses and junior doctors around him. He behaves like God! It was also the consistent aggression to remain on top. Add to this, I am a perfectionist. And those who faltered indeed came across in the line of fire." However, his age and experience have mellowed him. Nowadays, he prefers to stay quiet. "I hardly utter a word when I am in the OT," he shares.

Dr Cherian also shares the fact that his occupation has also left him accommodative and tolerant of all the religions unlike his staunch Catholic wife. He recollects a very touching moment when former president of India Dr APJ Kalam had asked him what was the religion of the woman's heart that he operated on. When Dr Cherian said, she was a Brahmin, Dr Kalam asked what was the religion of the woman whose heart he transplanted. When Dr Cherian said she was a Muslim, Dr Kalam reacted, "A Christian doctor transplanted a Muslim heart on a Hindu Brahmin. Is there any difference in any of the hearts that you operate?" Dr Kalam then told KMC to advocate this fact that people should not be fighting on religion as there is no difference in a human body.

After achieving every possible feat and sitting alone at the top, contentment clearly reflects in his personality. As there is hardly any award that he has not received and no luxury that he cannot afford, he is becoming less materialistic. KMC introspects, "I am not really happy. But nothing makes me sad either. I have received recognition and awards which a doctor can only dream of and take so many lives to achieve it. I got a Padamshree way back in 1991 when I did not even ask for it and even today, I do not use it as a prefix to my name. Out of the 37 names, I am the only Indian whose palm's replica has been inscribed on a stone in the Hippocrates Island. I owned a black Mercedes way back in 1981. I have had the privilege to eat, sit and talk with the VVIPs of the world. There is not a single kind of surgery that I have not done. But nothing has actually transformed me into an elated state. But a patient's smile does overwhelm me. For instance, this Punjabi patient who came all the way to get operated fills me with gratitude." The next car that he plans to have is a Black ambassador, as he is done with all the luxury vehicles!

Regrets

He laments that as a father he never got the time to spend time with his kids. "When you reach at the top, you are constantly working to remain there. As a father, I never was really there for my kids. It also has to do with my upbringing. Being educated in a boarding school, I was not really attached to my parents. Hence, things like going out with the family and or watching a movie never really mattered to me. It was not a big thing for me and I behaved the same way as a father. But later on, in life, I realised that these things are important to the kids, even if it is not for you," he confesses. Today, he connects big time with his two grand-daughters, when they pay a visit to him from the US.

18 Till I Die!

Even at the age of 67, KMC makes it a point to perform one surgery everyday, unless of course he is out of the country. He also feels very agitated and restless, if he is not doing anything. He likes keeping himself very busy. Currently, his pet-project the Medivillage, near Chennai, is keeping him occupied. One habit, as an administrator/ doctor which he practices till date is that no matter which part of the globe he is, his staff is supposed to give him a brief report about every patient of his hospital at 6 AM IST. "I picked up this habit as a surgeon in Australia. That time, I used to report to the chairperson there and today I get the briefs everyday." Before giving this interview, he had just come from Iran where the cardiology society had invited him for a guest lecture. The next country in his diary is China, where they had to postpone his scheduled travel as he is "just too tired". Before that, he was excited to go and meet his father on his 94th birthday with his entire family to his hometown in Kerala, which he hasn't been to, since many years.

There is so much to know about KMC that an entire book can be written on him. But as of now, we have to be content with a few selected moments and memories that seem not to have lost in translation.

nancy.singh@expressindia.com