Dr. Ramesh Nigam
(Padma Shri, 1973 – Medicine)

In the lecture halls of Maulana Azad Medical College in the 1960s, students sat in complete silence when Professor Ramesh Nigam entered. He could no longer see their faces, yet he seemed to know exactly who was present, who had prepared, and who needed encouragement. Born on 12 December 1920 into a medical family—his father had served in the Indian Medical Service and later taught surgery at King George’s Medical College, Lucknow—Ramesh grew up surrounded by the language of healing.

He began medical studies at Guy’s Hospital in London, but the Second World War interrupted everything. Stranded in India during a vacation, he completed his MBBS with honours at King George’s Medical College, Lucknow, sweeping every gold and silver medal the university offered, including the prestigious Lt. Governor Sir John Hewett Gold Medal in 1942. He went on to earn an MS in Surgery (1944) and an MD in Pathology (1945) from the same institution—an unusual double qualification that revealed his wide curiosity. After the war he returned to England, won the Hallett Prize in the FRCS primary examination, and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1946.

He taught and operated at Lucknow, then spent eleven years as Professor of Surgery at Nagpur Medical College before moving to Delhi in 1959 as Professor and Head of the newly developing Department of Surgery at Maulana Azad Medical College. Colleagues and students remembered a surgeon of exceptional skill, particularly in vascular work and difficult cases such as pyonephrosis. He operated with a headlight even on rounds, moving with quiet authority through the wards.

Then tragedy struck. In 1961 he suffered a retinal detachment. By 1963, at the age of only forty-three, he was completely blind in both eyes. Many expected him to withdraw. Instead he continued teaching.

One morning a young resident, unsure how to present a complex case, hesitated.
“Sir… the findings are…”
Professor Nigam interrupted gently. “Describe what your hands feel. Describe the history as the patient told it. Surgery is not only what the eyes see. It is what the mind understands.”

He taught without notes, recalling anatomy, pathology and operative steps with remarkable clarity. He served as Associate Editor of the Indian Journal of Surgery for twenty years and wrote A Companion in Surgical Studies. He remained an active member of the Governing Council of the Association of Surgeons of India. In 1964 he received the Dr. B.C. Roy Award; in 1973 the Government of India conferred the Padma Shri.

Students later said that losing his sight only sharpened his other gifts—his memory, his judgment, and his ability to listen. He continued to shape generations of surgeons until the end of his life. He passed away on 13 January 1999. His daughter, Dr. Madhuri Nigam, followed him into surgery and became a professor of cardiothoracic surgery in Delhi.

The Association of Surgeons of India later instituted the Dr. Ramesh Nigam Memorial Oration in his honour. Those who knew him still speak of the man who, when darkness fell, chose to keep lighting the way for others.

That was the life of Professor Ramesh Nigam—surgeon, teacher, and an enduring example of courage in the face of irreversible loss.