“listen to good advises but do whatever your heart says”
– Dr. Binayak Deb
Childhood and Family Life
Dr. Binayak Deb’s heart first beeped in this mortal land on 7th August 1962. Though he was born in Bhawanipore, Kolkata but he spent his childhood and school-college life in Odisha. He had stayed in different parts of Odisha including Sambalpur, Puri, Bhubneshwar and Cuttack. His father was a dental surgeon and was posted in Odisha. His mother is an artist, poet, and painter. Dr. Deb’s maternal family had a direct touch with Rabindranath Tagore. His maternal grandfather was a professor at Rabindranath’s Visva Bharati University (Shantiniketan) in Bengali and Sanskrit. He had a very personal relationship with Rabindranath Tagore. Dr. Deb’s eyes were sparkling when he mentioned that he has a letter from Rabindranath Tagore with him that was written to Deb’s mother. Dr. Deb’s grandfather was the first commercial artist from Bengal who worked with many famous writers and created the cover page of “Nazrul Sanchita”, “Pather Panchali” and many famous books.
Binayak was never an easy-going kid. If he was defined only as a naughty kid, then it would be an understatement. He was a dare-devil and was headstrong. His friends still wonder how he became a doctor that too a cardiologist. When he has in class 5 or 6, he escaped with a few fishermen and went to the sea to experience nature and explore fishing. He had short attention span in school, and couldn’t pay attention to class at a stretch for more than 30 minutes. His teachers used to tolerate only because he was a meritorious and good-natured kid. He used to say ‘Why will I attend class when the teachers are teaching what is already there in the book? I will read it from the book’ The teachers used to get angry which is very obvious. But, since he was a commendable student and had great memorizing power, it helped him to be what he is today.
After his school life, he decided to pursue medical and got a chance at SCB Medical college, Cuttack. Later on, he completed his Post Graduation in England and Ireland. Since his childhood, he wanted to be a doctor and that too a cardiologist. This is because when he was very young and used to stay at the hospital campus because of his dad’s work, he found that people respect and admire cardiologists a lot. That was the time when he decided to be the same.
His recognition as a doctor
Binayak’s first job was in Mumbai. He joined Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai when he was just 24 years old. It was before his post-graduation. He had double promotion twice in his school, and hence he completed medical two years early than normal. He went to Mumbai without giving a second thought without a job in hand. His confidence was strong and his destiny supported him that he got a job in Nanavati. His work tenure in the hospital was dreamlike. He has met almost every celebrity during that tenure and had diagnosed a few of them be it Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Shakti Samanta, Rahul Dev Burman, Shashi Kapoor, Anupam Kher, and many more. It was during this phase, that one day the hospital received a call from Mumbai airport that a celebrity had a heart attack mid-air. The hospital sent Binayak directly to the airport, and he came back with Shakti Samanta to the hospital. After a few years, he went to England-Ireland to continue his post-graduation.
After his post-graduation, he was practicing in Singapore and Brunei. During this time, he was responsible for developing cardiac surgery centre in Brunei and was appointed by none other than the Sultan of Brunei- Hassanal Bolkiah. He got the opportunity to visit the palace of Brunei- Istana, which is the biggest palace in the world with 1788 rooms. He was given the responsibility by none other than Dr. Devi Shetty to be the leader at NH Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkata. He used to travel during that time. It was in the year 2000, that the hospital was complete. He was the first cardio to perform first Coronary angiogram in that hospital in 2000. In the year 2005, he came back to Kolkata permanently and got associated with the hospital on a full-time basis.
He has been a team doctor for the Indian Cricket Team during the test series which used to take place in Kolkata and Bangladesh. During this tenure, he has worked with three Indian Cricket captains- MHD Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, and MS Dhoni. there are enumerable dressing room stories he is witness of the India Vs. Australia test match played at Eden Garden, Kolkata in the year 2001. He was close with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid as well during this time.
He is involved in Television commentary, he gives commentary for the regional television channels. He also gives his opinion as a cricket experts for specially abled International Cricket Tournament held in the Kolkata.
His love for social work
Dr. Deb has been associated with many social works. He is associated with an NGO ‘Moynapur Rural Healthcare Foundation’. It is his brainchild and the NGO is in Moynapur, Bankura- a small village in West Bengal. This NGO does not only run free health camps for the villagers of the place but is associated with different other works as well. Binayak Deb has started the scholarship program through this Foundation, where the meritorious students of the village are provided with a scholarship for higher studies. His NGO’s main mission is to effectively form a bridge between tertiary medical care and primary health care in the rural settings of West Bengal.
Extracurricular activities since childhood
Since his school days, Binayak was associated with a theatre group in Odisha. His family was always very supportive of any art. Binayak has also received the best actor award for consecutive three years at the drama festival in his college. He has also acted in couple of Indian big screen films as a special guests. He used to do voice drama in All India Radio, Cuttack during his college days. Now, he is majorly into recitations. He has written his own e-book ‘Memoirs of Summer’, which is also available as a podcast on his YouTube channel. He has authored and edited a medical book “Coronary Care Manual” in 1993 at the Ireland.
He is the guest faculty at IIM Joka, Kolkata. Here he teaches students from different parts of the world about social work and NGOs. Students from ESCP Business School, Europe, and Harvard Business School, Boston come here for assignments for completing their project which is based on Binayak’s NGO. Binayak still has a knack for learning, and hence he has completed an online 6 months program on Leadership Development from IIM, Indore. He has an avid passion for cricket and has participated in England County Cricket, Ireland County Cricket, Singapore County Cricket, and Brunei County Cricket.
Binayak’s vision in life
Binayak has met many famous personalities in his entire life till today including actors, directors, musicians, cricketers, social workers, and many more. But, he considers his interaction with Mother Teresa to be a blessing. He has met her twice. She has blessed him by holding his hand and saying, ‘These hands will serve a lot of people in need.’ Binayak believes in power, destiny, and karma. His best award is when a patient comes to him being sick, and goes back smiling. He is a true replica of the fact ‘A doctor’s smile and behaviour can cure half of the disease’.
His parting words to the readers
The only struggles in his life are the risks he has taken. He went to Mumbai without a job, he went to England without a secured job. But, his confidence and ability helped him to overcome every obstacles and win every race. He has always done what he felt is right for him and rarely listened to anyone. But, he advises all to listen to good of advice, but finally, do what your heart says.
