Books
Harbhajan Singh Rissam
Dr. Scalpel Wields His Pen
by ABHILASHA SUBBA
Kathmandu, Nepal
It was almost impossible to pick out the jolly looking man in
the crowd, but the red turban was hard to miss. Or was it his
infectious smile or the positive energy that surrounded him?
"We all have a passion and a profession. While being a doctor is my
profession, I am passionate about literature," says Dr. H.S. Rissam - Harbhajan Singh Rissam - author
of recently published medical fiction, The Scalpel.
Dr. Rissam was in the valley to participate in the two-day
international conference on ‘Conquering Heart Disease in the Himalayan
Region' organised by the Cardiac Society of Nepal on November 12 and 13, 2010.
Director of Clinical Cardiac Sciences and Senior Interventional
Cardiologist at the Max Heart Institute, New Delhi, India, Dr. Harbhajan Singh has published
more than 100 papers in national and international medical
journals, received more than 20 honours from different scientific
academies and was also honoured with the Padma Shree in 2006.
But
The Scalpel is his first step in the world of fiction ... and his passion.
"This is the first work of medical fiction in South Asia," claims Dr Harbhajan Singh,
which he said was first released by Tarun Tej Pal during the World Book
Fair in Delhi on February 5 this year, and on June 5, it was formally
launched by Dr. Farooq Abdullah at the Habitat World, New Delhi. The book
published by Rupa "is already into third reprint within six months of
its launch".
Settling down next to the fountain close to the conference hall
for "the view looks beautiful here", Harbhajan Singh talked about his new
book and his inspiration behind it.
He decided to indulge in his passion during his visit to Paris in
2003. "It was winter then and the surrounding was so beautiful and
inspiring ... I decided then to begin what I had always wished to do," he
reminisces.
The book is the first part of a trilogy and the author plans to bring out the next two parts soon for his readers.
He had always been interested in reading and insists he knows "nothing about cricket or hockey, but I can differentiate a good book from a bad one".
He does not want to name any writer as his inspiration as taking one
name would be unfair. "I like everyone, from Shakespeare to Tagore and
Munshi Premchand to Manjushree Thapa. Every good writer has influenced
me," he insists.
The interesting aspect of the book according to him has
to be the fact that its protagonist is a female and the story travels
from Paris to India to Nepal to almost all the continents expect Africa,
which he promises to include in his next book.
The fiction on medical scam has a chapter where one of the main
characters travels to Nepal. Talking about Nepal, Harbhajan Singh, "This
is my first visit to Nepal but I have been here twice."
Confusing ... so he adds with a mischievous smile, "I was actually born in Kathmandu."
He plans to make the book into a movie and the talks are on. He insists that "those who are into reading will love it, and those who
don't, please read the first three pages and I promise, you will be
hooked".
[Courtesy: The Himalayan]
November 16, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Precious Nkomo (Zimbabwe), January 03, 2011, 2:24 AM.
Good article, Abhilasha. Keep on keepin' on!
2: Baljit Singh Sidhu (Chester, Virginia, U.S.A.), March 08, 2011, 1:27 PM.
Dr. Rissam - are you by any chance the Dr. Rissam whom I knew from Medical College, Amritsar, from around 1971-72 period?
3: Dr Rakesh K. Mehta (New York, U.S.A.), February 19, 2012, 11:29 PM.
Congratulations on your splendid achievements, too many to list here.