Life Watch's special issue on the demise of Teacher of Teachers Padma Shri Prof.

Mahdi Hasan Took teaching as religion, Dr. Ashok Seth One of the foremost interventional cardiologists in India, Dr. Ashok Seth, despite being a busy person kept that rapport with Prof. Mahdi Hasan intact, of student-teacher relationship. This is remarkable because a person of Dr. Seths stature, who meets hundreds of people on daily basis and surely must have been taught by several teachers during the growing phases of his career, still remembers and cherishes the days when he was being taught by Prof. Mahdi Hasan. Though Dr. Seth maintains that this teacher-student relationship is inexplicable and cannot be described in words, the value that he gives for Prof. Mahdi Hasan can be gauged from the fact that he talked to Life Watch about him all through his drive to the airport and during the time he was check-in at the airport. The mystery still remains unresolved. What was there in Prof. Mahdi Hasans teaching that a student, who has now risen to international fame, still values that relationship so much so that he prefers talking about him over all else. When Life Watch asked the same question to Dr. Ashok Seth, he replied almost immediately: His passion to teach! He used to put in so much of hard work in trying to give the best to his students. You find very few teachers endeavoring so much for his students. At the same time, you find very few people who pass on so much to students at every level. So even if it was 12 in the night or 2 oclock at night, he would be ready to keep awake so that students could learn from him. That is because he did not take teaching as profession; he took teaching as his religion. Such was his passion for teaching. Dr. Ashok Seth was a student of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College at AMU, Aligarh. He fondly recalls his visits to Tar Bangla, where Prof. Mahdi Hasan had been allotted University accommodation during the good old days when Dr. Seth was a student at JNMC. Says Dr. Seth: We fondly remember Prof. Mahdi Hasan as one of the few teachers who has impacted our lives in formative years. Even after the passage of more than 30 years since he taught us, so many of his qualities which we admired and which became a guide and a goal to us are still so clear in our mind. Adds Dr. Seth, Anytime of the day and night he was ready to make sure that we learnt; that was one of the fondest memories we have. This speaks of his sincerity and dedication to teaching was superhuman and beyond the call of duty. Night or day, holiday or workday, at home or college he was forever ready to teach to make us get our concepts clear and answer all our queries. He had been born to create a path for his students. Secondly, his knowledge was so profound that whether it was anatomy in the first year or whether it was surgery in the final year, we learnt from him all the time. It was not just his subject but the depth of knowledge that he had and his willingness to partake. It was simply superhuman. He had such mastery that he used to draw diagrams with both hands. It was so fascinating that somebody could actually work his brain to such an extent that his both hands would respond and he would be drawing different things with each hand. It was almost super-normal that he could do that. That was another thing that was fascinating. I always had love and affection and respect for him. At the same time, he was ready to give his life for his students. He had lot of love and affection for him. Going back to those days, Dr. Seth adds laughingly with appreciation: He had a heart problem, he came to me, I did his angiogram and then he had a surgery; thats why he always used to feel that I had taken care of him. Any problem he would give me a call. Despite being my teacher, the great amount of love and respect that he gave to a student of his was very unusual. I am glad that I was able to meet him just two months ago, during the 50th year celebration of

JNMC. He and I were the two people who were felicitated by the University and the Medical College. That was another honour for me because I was felicitated with a person like Prof. Mahdi Hasan, who was a towering personality, far above me, and we were the only two people who were felicitated. This was something special for me because our felicitation happened at the same time; He was such a towering personality and I was a small person in front of him and his stature. It was an honour and privilege for me. Dr. Seth further adds, Its not just about one year of anatomy or something, there are very few people in life whom you remember, who leave such an impact upon you that you remember them again and again. He left a mark on me; he is remembered time and again just because of the person he was. Pyar, mohabbat, affection, respect, combined together is a very great thing. He was one about whom I retain multiple memories rolled into one. His teaching was so phenomenal that I and my wife, who were both classmates, often talk about him at home. There are so many unforgettable memories that keep coming when you think of him.