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THE NATIONAL MEDICAL JOURNAL OF INDIA
VOL. 27, NO. 3, 2014
Obituary
Rajendra Tandon
(21 January 1931–26 February 2014)
‘The lover’s ear hears the faintest
sound’
—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Professor Rajendra (Raj)
Tandon could hear the faintest
of heart sounds that provided
vital clues to the diagnosis of
heart disease, because he loved
cardiology, loved his patients
and loved teaching his students
to listen and learn. Above all, he
was in love with humanity in general.
He was not just the Father of Paediatric Cardiology in India. He
was a father figure for all the students who had the privilege to
claim him as teacher, friend, philosopher and guide. He was not
only the most astute of clinicians when it come to the art of bedside
diagnosis but was also the most caring of doctors, deeply concerned
about the welfare of each of his patients. A perfect role model of
the ideal doctor, he instilled priceless values, along with
professional skills, in his mentees. He was undoubtedly the most
unselfish human being I met in my life.
Professor Tandon had his formative medical education at the
King George’s Medical College, Lucknow (MBBS 1954; MD
1958). He subsequently trained in internal medicine at the
Massachusetts General Hospital and in Cardiology at the Children’s
Hospital, Boston, USA. There he worked with renowned leaders
in paediatric cardiology and cardiac pathology such as Jesse
Edwards and Alexander Nadas. He then returned to India, as adept
in expertly guiding a cardiac catheter through tiny blood vessels
as he was in hearing the faintest heart murmurs through his
favourite Hewlett Packard stethoscope and as skilled in identifying
cardiac malformations at autopsy as he was in solving the crossword
puzzle of complex congenital heart disease in a crying baby. His
classification of tricuspid atresia remained the standard for decades
after he published it.
In 1963, he joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS), where he developed the division of paediatric cardiology.
His trainees moved to institutions across India to build paediatric
cardiology as a clinical service and teaching discipline. Even
though he was mainly regarded as a paediatric cardiologist, he
remained in touch with adult cardiology, where too he excelled in
diagnostic skills and bedside teaching. He retired as Professor and
Head of Cardiology as well as chief of the Cardiothoracic Centre
at the AIIMS in 1991.
Soon after retirement, he was appointed a consultant to WHO
and Advisor to the Ministry of Health, Government of India, for
organizing regional and national consultations on ‘Tobacco or
health’. This initiative led to the development of the first draft
national legislation for tobacco control. Even after the completion
of that assignment, Professor Tandon remained a champion of
tobacco control and felt fulfilled when the process he catalysed in
1991 culminated in the comprehensive tobacco control law of
2003. Even as he continued his practice of clinical cardiology at
the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research at New
Delhi, he guided major multicentric projects on the epidemiology
of rheumatic heart disease, under the auspices of the Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR). He also chaired ICMR’s
project advisory committee for research in cardiology. Till his
demise, he chaired the Boards of HRIDAY (Health Related
Information Dissemination Among Youth) and CCDC (Centre
for Chronic Disease Control).
Professor Tandon authored more than 400 scientific
publications in national and international journals as well as
several chapters in textbooks. He delivered many named orations
and received several awards which included the Distinguished
Career Award by the South Asian Society of Atherosclerosis and
Thrombosis (SASAT), Lifetime Achievement Award of the
Cardiological Society of India and Distinguished Teacher Award
by the National Board of Examinations. He was designated Father
of Paediatric Cardiology of India by the Paediatric Cardiac
Society of India and a Cardiology Legend by the Indian Society of
Electrocardiology.
Beyond all these honours, however, he will be remembered for
the generous gift of love, affection and outstanding education he
gave his students and for the gratitude and devotion with which
they revere his memory. Whenever they listen to the heart of any
patient or decipher the cardiac axis in any electrocardiogram, they
will recall what they learned from this remarkable clinician and
mentor.
Even more than what he taught me in cardiology, which was
plenty, I regard his values as the most important imprint on my
life. He would rejoice in the success of his students and would do
anything to help them in their professional and personal lives. He
felt for them like a friend and cared for them like a father. In a
profession that was fiercely competitive, he taught us to not only
respect colleagues but also make sacrifices for them. He did not
care for falsehood but was kind in his correction of mistakes. ‘This
is not acceptable’ was the harshest criticism he would direct at an
error. He was a Guru in every sense of that word.
As one who cared for sick children with such care and
compassion, he was child-like in his innocence and affection. He
had no trace of malice in him and treated even his occasional
critics with genuine warmth that melted their adversity. He never
grew old in his mind or cold in his heart. A great lover of
Hindustani music, he was an ardent admirer of Kishori Amonkar.
It is the purity of that music that was reflected in his life. Those
melodies will never fade from our memories.
K. SRINATH REDDY
(A pupil of Professor Tandon since 1974)
Public Health Foundation of India
New Delhi