A Tale of 3 Generations Connected By Heart Surgery

Armed Forces men hate to be tied down

Ludhiana,5th March, 2014: (Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria):

Wg Cdr (Retd) HS Bhullar was in a bit of a worry. He had suffered a heart attack and his tests showed that he had severe heart disease with a risk of a further heart attack. He came to DrHarinder Singh Bedi , Head of Cardio Vascular, Thoracic and Endovascular Surgery, CMC College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. And that started a chain of events.

In DrBedi’s words – “Cdr Bhullar walked into my Clinic – ramrod straight – a dignified elderly fit man. I knew immediately that he was from the Armed Forces–you can retire a man from the Armed Forces but you cannot take the Armed Forces culture out of the man. “Doc–I need bypass surgery“he said in a no nonsense way. I went through his records. He had suffered a major heart attack and his angiogram showed critical blocks. His heart functioning was labored. He was a retired Wing Commander (WgCdr) of the Indian Air Force (IAF). “Just fix me up good“– was all he said. No questions about risks, complications etc. His wife–a graceful lady–maintained a brave stoicfront too–though I could make out that she was very worried.”

Cdr Bhullar successfully underwent a bypass surgery .The surgery went well. His heart bounced back to normal. He was ‘fast tracked’ in the ICU. Armed Forces men hate to be tied down. Action and discipline is in their blood. These qualities stay for life – thank God for that!  By Day 1 – he was sitting in a chair reading the paper. Day 2 – he combed his hair and tidied himself up. He had to look smart to the nurses – you see! He went home on the 6th day.

On his 1st post op visit he was smartly turned out (Pic 1). “I tied my turban myself” – he proudly told Dr. Bedi. All systems were good. In Dr.Bedi’s office his eyes alighted on Dr.Bedi’sfather’s (Major retd KMS Bedi) photo (Pic 2). CdrBhullar recollected that he had flown him in his Dakota with a bunch of paratroopers in Dec 1971. Armed forces men (i e Army, Air Force, Navy) have an unwritten code of mutual respect for each other. CdrBhullar was referring to the war of liberation of Bangladesh. Dr.Bedi also recollected that he was in school then in Dehradun and that somehow all children found it fun although he knew that his dad was in the thick of battle. There was curfew in Dehradun, the children dug trenches in school, had mock drills, and had total enforced blackout at night while preparing for final school exams in candle light.

Major (retd) KMS Bediwas a paratrooper (a.k.a – the red devils – because of their maroon turbans / berets) in the SFF of India (the then secret and decorated Establishment 22) and had been parachuted behind enemy lines in Chittagong with his men. They were part of the brave effort by the Indian Army and MuktiBahini in getting the Pakistani forces to surrender. Anyway the WgCdr (then Flt Lt) flew the DC3 popularly called the Dakota which was used in the 1971 war. As per his memory – it was a twin prop piston engine aircraft which could seat 28 fully armed paratroopers. It had a cruising speed of 150 Mph and range of over 1000 miles. Thus it could fly nonstop from Delhi to Bombay! CdrBhullar said that he remembered the sortie where he dropped Major Bediand his troops. Both the Armed Forces men (separated by 25 years in age) waxed nostalgically about the war days.

DrBedi remarked that it was the nice coincidence of heart surgery which had brought these 3 generations together . The other members of the Heart Team involved in the surgery are Dr S Garg, Dr A Joseph, Dr Jedidiah, Dr P Jain, DrArlin, DrAnjali ,DrJesina , Mr William Prem and MrJairus .

DrAbrahan G Thomas – Director of CMC & H – reiterated the commitment of the CMC to serve the Armed Forces who have done so much for safeguarding the integrity of our Country.

A Tale of 3 Generations Connected By Heart Surgery