Dr. Chandrasekhar Das is dead, Long Live Dr. Chandrasekhar Das,! writes Sudarshan Gupta

February 23: Flames were emerging from the pyre of the crematorium at Silchar. It was around 11 on Sunday morning. The mortal body of Dr. Chandrasekhar Das was on the pyre, his siblings standing nearby with moist eyes. Standing amidst a sea of crowd, a question popped up in my mind. How can Dr. Chandrasekhar Das die? He was still alive in the hearts of all those who assembled at the crematorium to bid adieu to the pediatrician whose child like simplicity was still fresh among them.

Can a man who passed five decades amidst children become old and depart from this earth? No, he just cannot. Dr. Chandrasekhar Das is still alive and will continue to be so till every child he treated and its parents are there in this planet to narrate the exploits of the man in white apron. There are certain people who live and die not just for their family. The fragrance of the deeds of such person makes all as their extended family members, who have come across such rare personalities. Such a rare gem of a man was Dr. C.S. Das.

As flames engulfed the mortal body of the doctor, an elderly gentleman standing nearby said, “I would have lost my only child some 30 years ago, but it is this man who came in our life like a messiah. He cured my 1 year old baby and gave her a new lease of life. Every time, since then, when I hear my girl call me ‘Baba’, my heart fills with gratitude for Dr.C.S. Das.”

His was a classic example of larger than life image. Barak Valley has got a long history of deprivation. Lack of proper health facilities is one thing which characterises this Valley. But amidst all such lacuna, the Valley was fortunate to have a doctor who treated children and cured them, as if, with a magical touch. I was one such person, who went to the crematorium to pay homage to Dr. Das not only because he was my doctor in my childhood or now is the doctor of my kid, rather I felt it to be on a pilgrimage to be at the crematorium where such a ‘God-like’ being was brought in at the last destination of his life.

On 17 February, 2020, when Dr. Das was admitted in the hospital, prayers started to pour in from every quarter. However, a peculiar phenomenon of social media users of this Valley suddenly came to surface, which have left all sane persons perplexed. On 18 February, multiple messages started to pour in Facebook and WhatsApp related to the demise of Dr Chandrasekhar Das! It was, as if, an inhuman competition like the television channels to come out with breaking news of the death of Dr. Das. He was still lying in ventilation fighting death like a warrior he has been in his life. Such fake messages of his death speaks volume of some unexplained traits which have cropped up among the 21st century digital society.

This incident probably is a message for all such over enthusiastic social media users to verify, re-verify any information before placing this on their social media walls. We need to understand the negative impact such messages leave in the mind of the family members. Probably, the death of Dr. Das on 22 February is a lesson for the social media users to exercise restraint while they post/copy and paste anything on their social media walls.

Saying so, my attention turned back to the pyre at the crematorium. The mortal body of Dr. Chandrasekhar Das was cremated by then. People started coming out with a heavy heart. While coming out, I suddenly felt my vision becoming a bit hazy. I opened my spectacles to find the glasses moist with a few drops of water from my eyes. Yes, it were these drops of tear which I offered as my tribute to the doctor who lived and died for the people. To conclude, I could only say, “Dr. Chandrasekhar Das is dead, Long Live Dr. Chandrasekhar Das!”

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