A doctor famous in Pakistan

Dr Rajesh Sharma. Currently, he is the most talked about man in the city. “No, he is God,� say the parents of tiny tots from across the border in Pakistan.
Dr Sharma, paediatric cardiac surgeon at Narayana Hurudalaya Hospital, who performed the routine but hi-profile surgery on baby Noor is as shy as they come. “He is not the jovial, backslapping kind of person.But HE IS THE BEST,� says K S Vasuki, manager, corporate communications, Narayana Hrudayalaya.
This 45-year-old surgeon has a huge fan following in Pakistan. A doctor in the US referred a 21-day-old Pakistani baby with a complicated heart problem to him while he was at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi six years ago. The child was operated upon successfully and that was the beginning.
Dr Sharma is now the most renowned paediatric cardiac surgeon in Pakistan, albeit working in India. His fame has spread by word of mouth and they come to the city searching for him. Dr Sharma is to have jokingly said, “I never expected them to follow me all the way to Bangalore.� He operates upon babies from Mauritius, Maldives, African countries, Bangladesh and other South East Asian countries. Narayana Hrudayalaya has performed the largest number of operations on babies with heart abnormalities.
Dr Sharma is an alumnus of AIIMS who later trained in Boston and Miami. His day begins at six in the morning and continues till the wee hours. He performs at least two operations a day — spending almost 10 hours in the theatre. “Unlike other senior doctors, he is in the OT from the beginning till the end of the operation,� says Vasuki, “Sometimes, he would wake up in the middle of the night and drive straight to the hospital to check on a patient.�
Dr Devi Shetty, founder director, Narayana Hrudayalaya says, “He has around 15 years of experience as a surgeon. I have always wanted him to work at Narayana Hrudayalaya. He virtually lives in the hospital. I am a paediatric surgeon myself, but I rate him as a superior and excellent surgeon. He is perhaps the best paediatric cardiac surgeon in the world today.�
Dr Sharma moved to Bangalore from Delhi two years ago. He lives with his wife and one son who will be shortly joining a professional college. Following in the footsteps of his father?
sudhapillai@indiatimes.com