Dr. M. S. S. Mukharjee - The heart doctor with a very big heart

“Our heart does a lot of hard work and therefore needs a lot of care. Each day, an average human heart beats for an approximate 100,000 times and pumps about 7500 litres of blood through the body. That’s a lot of hard work for an organ no bigger than a large fist. Truth is, the heart does more physical work than any other muscle over a lifetime. That is, when you’re not viewing it from the perspective of someone who’d just been bitten by the love bug,” says Dr. M.S.S. Mukharjee with a mischievous smile. “Because then, the heart has to work even harder!”

Ask him why he chose to be a heart specialist and you get a response that’s unique as the person himself. Dr. M.S.S. Mukharjee is one of the most renowned and widely respected senior interventional cardiologists in Hyderabad. He holds a rare double degree in Cardiology: both DM and DNB in cardiology. Dr. Mukharjee works at the Pulse Heart Centre, in KPHB colony, one of the most densely populated suburbs in India, and also at the Medicover Hospital in Madhapur.

Dr. Mukharjee is an expert in angioplasty and stenting and percutaneous aortic valve replacements. His work in prevention of heart diseases has been recognised by several governmental organizations. He is a specialist in the management of Hypertension as certified by the American Society of Hypertension.

“What is life without the tensions it comes along with?” he says philosophically. “Problem is that we Indians tend to take ourselves and our lives a bit too seriously. This is what gives rise to hypertension, which becomes the source of employment for heart specialists like us.”

Behind the ever self-effacing exterior, Dr. Mukharjee is actually an expert with a solid 15 years of Interventional cardiology experience. He performs the most complex of angioplasties including the most calcified coronaries, the diffuse disease, the bifurcations and the chronically closed vessels.

He is regularly invited as a faculty for several national and international conferences and has devised an easy way of teaching the medical students to learn ECG. He frequently conducts sessions for the students regarding the art and science of ECG-reading. He consistently shares his knowledge with his medical fraternity through social media videos.

Dr. Mukharjee regularly appears on a lot of local television channels as an invited expert to guide policy related to heart diseases. He is also an equally renowned philanthropist who is always looking out for the welfare of others around him. He runs a charity organization known as the Pulse Heart Charitable Trust and he says with a solemn face, “Charity should not only run on your facebook page, it should run in your veins”.

While the showcase behind his back overflowed with the awards he received, Dr. Mukharjee himself appears to be quite a simple and unassuming man. His patients dote on him for saving their lives and he constantly strives to shower them with his expert care and friendly affection.

Though he is quite close to many hearts, Dr. Mukharjee’s own heart lies in his charity work. He has been consulting elderly patients for free for the last fifteen years. He also identifies and supports other charity outfits in Hyderabad.

His own Pulse Heart Charitable Trust has been at the forefront in feeding the migrant workers during the coronavirus lockdown period with its SHIELD (Stop Hunger Involving Everyone during LockDown) program. He has donated generously to the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the medical workers in the government hospitals.

Dr. Mukharjee writes compelling short stories and is also an avid blogger. He has published several short stories in Telugu language. His stories involve subtle human emotions, move the readers and challenge their conventional wisdom. His blogs speak out on several contemporary topics including ragging (his views were quoted in a judgement by the Hon. Supreme Court of India), muscle building steroid usage, medical ethics, and truth activism among others.

Dr. Mukharjee also has a great political acumen and he likes to help and guide policy makers in an informal way, while keeping himself determinedly away from political parties. He is a fitness enthusiast who regularly participates and organises runs and walks for social causes.

More than anything, he tries to dispense a positive attitude and hope to people. “Just meet him once and your heart problems diminish by half without him even prescribing a medicine.” a patient waiting for him was telling another.

All this is what makes Dr. Mukharjee the heart doctor with a genuinely big heart.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.