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A Doctor By Chance, A Sport Analyst Par Excellence
Dr Narottam Puri, Executive Director, Medical Services,
Max Healthcare (MHC) wears many hats. He is an eminent ENT specialist, a famous
sports analyst, commentator, quizmaster and a TV personality. Sapna Dogra
takes a peek into his life - present and past
 At
first instance what strikes me about Dr Narottam Puri is his affable personality
and humility. Sitting in his plush office in Max House, Dr Puri reminisces about
the good old days, including his childhood, alma mater, medicine and sports.
On being asked how he managed dual careers of medicine and sports, he says,
he had compartmentalised his life where sports was his hobby and medicine was
a profession and he never mixed the two.
Born in September 1947 to an illustrious family of sport lovers in Delhi, Dr
Puri with his three sisters had a very happy childhood in a sprawling bungalow
on Hailey Road; it wouldn't be wrong to say that he was "born with a silver
spoon in his mouth". His grandfather was the Prime Minister of the state
of Alwar. His father Devraj Puri was a famous commentator who also played cricket.
The entire family loved sport, so it was natural for him to get attracted to
sports, especially cricket. He was passionate about cricket and he fondly remembers
how his mother once burnt his cricket bats because she was exasperated by her
family's obsession with the game.
A man of principles and strong convictions, Dr Puri strongly believes in 'karma'
and doing one's duty with honesty and hard work. He is not at all ritualistic,
though he does believe in a supreme power. He recalls because of his practical
beliefs, to everyone's chagrin, he refused to get married in the evening and
didn't ride a mare.
The teacher in him feels sad and distressed to see declining teaching standards.
"The standards in some of the best medical colleges of yesteryears have
really come down," he bemoans.
Doctor By Chance
Growing up, Dr Puri never thought of becoming a doctor. "Medicine happened
to me," he says. It was not planned because he was more interested in playing
cricket. However, his father advised him not to take up cricket as a profession
because he was not that good a player and he took this advice seriously. "My
father seldom gave any advice, which is why I listened to him and dropped the
idea of becoming a cricketer," he remembers. Still medicine didn't figure
in his scheme of things. However, he confesses that he was very bad in Maths
and hated the subject from the bottom of his heart. "Therefore I wanted
to take up a stream where I didn't have to study Maths," quips Dr Puri.
At that time he met his maternal uncle Dr Chaudhary, a surgeon who had just
returned from abroad. "The seeds of medicine were sown into me then, later
I joined the premedical course after school," he says.
He stood first in the pre-medical test and joined Maulana
Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi in 1964, which was then among the top five
medical colleges in the country. Till his fourth year, he was not very serious
and was just going with the flow. But in the fourth year of medicine, he realised
the importance of what he was doing and decided to specialise in either eye
or ENT specialities. Being a bright student he topped the university. In 1973,
he did MS in ENT and stood first in the university, for which he won the coveted
PV Cherian Award. Meanwhile, he was actively involved in co-curricular activities
and was the only student of MAMC to have been in the Delhi university cricket
team. Apart from cricket, he played tennis and table tennis, took part in music
competitions and acted in numerous plays.
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A voracious reader, he can devour anything he lays
his hands on. His favourite authors used to be W Somerset Maugham, Arthur
Hailey et al. Right now he is reading Lonely Planet's South India. He
has just finished reading a Reader Digest's compendium and The Last Juror
by John Grisham.
In his spare time, he loves listening to old Hindi
film songs and semi-classical music. He abhors current Bollywood music.
He loves spending time with his family. Dr Puri regrets that he missed
out on the growing years of his children due to his busy schedule and
his wife had to make all sacrifices.
Dr Puri loves to go to Chail and Goa in India. Amongst
foreign destinations he is fond of Adelaide and Melbourne in Australia,
South Island in New Zealand, and also Singapore. But he says India is
the best place because you have everything from hills and deserts to plains
to mountains to the sea.
He still loves his college and being a part of MAMC
old students association. "I never miss its function for anything
in the world," claims this Maulanian.
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Teacher By Choice
Since he was a very good student and interested in academics, Dr Puri took up
teaching and joined as a lecturer in ENT in Delhi University in his alma mater,
where he worked from 1975-1981. During this time he married his classmate in
MAMC, a clinical pathologist. He has a daughter and a son. He was a very popular
teacher. "I love talking and interacting with youngsters, which might be
the reason for my rising popularity index at that time," he says. He loved
being a teacher and was involved in cultural activities like dramas and music
competitions. Incidentally, he himself is a very good singer. "I was a
disciple of Ustad Jaffer Ali Khan Saheb for sometime," he reveals.
In his stint in MAMC, he was equally active in academics and
research and published nearly 25 papers in national and international journals.
He loved being a teacher so much that even today after retirement he would love
to take up teaching.
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There have been many people instrumental in shaping
his views and life. His father was one such person from whom Dr Puri has
learnt a lot. He also idolises his maternal uncle and in college he looked
up to his teachers: Dr PK Kakkar, Dr KC Mahajan and Dr AK Lahiri. He also
has a fantastic group of friends who don't spare him their criticism.
Amongst the several awards and orating awards he
has won are Swami Vivekanand Oration and Dr BL Taneja Memorial Oration
Award of DMA. Dr Puri was the first recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus
Award, given on the Silver Jubilee of MAMC by the President of India.
He has also served the DMA as an executive committee member about 25 years
ago besides serving as the Hon Secretary and the President of the Association
of Otolaryngologists of India (Delhi state branch). He also served as
a governing body member of AOI. He is one of the very few members of the
American College of Physician Executives in India.
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A Reluctant Practioner
In 1982, Dr Puri resigned from MAMC when he was transferred to Pondicherry with
a promotion. He explains, "I wanted to be with my family and didn't want
to uproot them so I decided to start practicing." Though he claims now
that he was a reluctant practitioner, for teaching was his first love, Dr Puri
was a leading and a famous ENT practitioner in Delhi. He joined Mool Chand Hospital
in 1982 and spent 20 years as a senior consultant. Then he went on to establish
and head the department of ENT at Sant Parmanand Hospital, where he was also
a member of the advisory committee and of the management committee. He also
set up a modern polyclinic in 1982, which closed down in March 2006. He was
a Director of Maan Hospital in North Delhi, founded by him along with a few
friends.
Dr Puri is also a Fellow of International College of Surgeons and holds an Advanced
Diploma in Health Administration besides being a member of American College
of Physician Executives.
A Doctor Sportsperson
 Dr
Puri has been active in radio, TV and sports journalism too. Starting his career
as a compere in 1969, Dr Puri virtually became the face of Doordarshan Sports
through his sports quiz, cricket, tennis and table tennis commentaries. His
radio programmes on sports, particularly cricket commentaries, made him a popular
face in the 1970s. Besides writing for various leading newspapers and magazines
(HT, India Today), Dr Puri is the author of 18 books on sports and has contributed
to three books on medicine.
He started as a scorer in 1961 while in ninth standard for which he earned Rs
45 in three days. In 1966, he acted as a statistician in the first-ever international
match, telecast live, with his father the commentator. In 1971 he started as
a commentator. "My father used to be a cricket commentator and I was a
keen cricket fan," explains Dr Puri adding, "It was an opportunity
to stay in touch with a sport I love."
In 1974, he started India's first sports quiz show on Doordarshan. He conceived
and developed the whole idea. It became a huge success and ran till 1992. Interestingly,
he never referred to answers while on the show and could remember all the dates
and events pertaining to sports. "If I expected participants to remember
all the answers, I should also remember everything by heart," he states.
Having an exceptional memory is due to doing everything with concentration,
he informs. He started taking things slowly after his cardiac surgery in 1998.
Stepping Into Corporate World
In 2003, Dr Puri joined Max as Medical Director and soon he was promoted to
the position of Executive Director. He also serves as a director on board. At
Max, Dr Puri provided overall medical leadership to the company. He is responsible
for establishing the company as a world-class healthcare services provider.
He plays a vital role in the development of annual goals and objectives, medical
strategy, delivery strategies and quality management programmes. He is also
involved at the top level for physician staffing and management, chairing medical
committees and overseeing physician, nursing and paramedical development. Dr
Puri also heads a unique initiative, Max Institute of Medical Excellence, which
is involved with all medical, nursing and paramedical training activities at
MHC. He continues to be a sought-after ENT consultant and is a senior consultant
in the department of ENT.
Despite a very hectic schedule, he takes time out to see OPD patients four days
a week for about two hours in Max clinics. According to him, quality is very
important in healthcare business and at Max it is implemented through training,
education and audit programmes.
Amidst all these, he takes time out to be associated with an NGO for mentally
challenged children as a patron.
Dr Puri has never had a dull moment in his life and one is
stupefied by the energy he exudes. No wonder he was the most popular teacher
and would have inspired a number of students, which he continues to do.
sapna.dogra@expressindia.com
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