Obituaries

[BSharma]

Thanks everyone for your support.  Tomorrow is Wednesday and I will probably spend time remembering my friend rather than playing tennis.

Dan was a remarkable teacher.  He had an inscription in his office that read, "A mind is not a bucket to be filled; it is to light a fire."  Whether dealing with my children’s education or coaching the academic teams in middle and high school or teaching medical students and resident physicians at my institution, I have followed Dan’s advice of not lecturing as a way to teach them, but to spark an interest in them to discover knowledge on their own.  My role has been to provide the tools and the right atmosphere to them to be lifelong learners. 

Dan grew up in the South at a time when color of skin played a big role in society yet he was "color-blind" and treated everyone with fairness and dignity.  He championed the cause of poor patients and led the charge to fund a Ronald McDonald House in Tulsa – a place where parents of children admitted at nearby Children’s Hospital could live for free or at reduced charges.  Twenty-five years back, he told the super-specialists in our group (who were allowed by the institution to do private practice) that we should see all patients irrespective of their ability to pay for our services and there should not be any discrimination based on color, income or faith.  He practiced what he preached and to this day our office and clinic provides similar level of care to rich and poor children.  We collect about 35% - 40% of money that we should and do not insist on payment for services when the parents of the children cannot afford them.  The comparable number for most physicians is over 95% in my region.  We call it the Dan’s rule of altruism where money is not the driving force for becoming a physician. 

[x_y_Z_a]

Bhushanji
My condolences to you and Dan's family. He is going to be remembered for so long for his noble deeds. May his soul rest in peace.

[jai_in_canada]

Dr. Sharma, your friend and mentor was obviously a very special human being.  A great teacher, philosopher, altruist, leader and tennis enthusiast - among other things, I am sure.  We need more such bright lights in society to show us the way through darkness.  I love the quote about the mind not being a container to fill with facts, instead a candle to be lit to bring light and energy.  I will keep that in mind.  Such people live on long after they pass because their spirit and legacy carries on through the numerous people they have inspired, such as yourself.  Some people should live forever.  Thanks for sharing your uplifting story with us.

[Kothai]

My condolences Doc..

Kothai

[Varma]

Bhushanji,

My deepest condolences to you and your friend's family. It truly is a great loss to this world. May his soul rest in peace.

- Varma

[punarayan]

Dr. Sharma. Sorry for the lose of your friend.  Please accept my sincere condolences.  An inspiration no less.

[jayakris]

Very sorry to hear of an inspirational human being passing away like that.  Prayers for his soul's shanthi, and heartfelt condolences to you, Bhushan, his friend.

Jay

[ajay]

Bhushan, my condolences to you. It is always tough to lose a dear one. I pray  for his soul to rest in peace and I pray for you for the strength to overcome this loss.

[kujo]

Sorry, to hear this Doc. May you continue in your mentor's footsteps and carry his torch...

-kujo

[Sathya]

Eminent Tamil Writer Sujatha (Original name is Rangarajan) has died last night at the age of 73 due to multiple organ failure.

Sujatha, contributed with many of science fictions in Tamil. He also wrote short stories, novels, screenplays and columns in weeklies. In his fictions, he visualised a future Chennai / India and made an interesting story.

He contributed to Cinema through screen plays. He has recently written screen play and dialogue for Sivaji - the Boss. Rajini's latest hit film.

He was an Electronic Engineer from IIT and worked Bharat Electronics Limited. He played a major role in designing Electronic Voting Machine System used in India for polls now.

He is technologist. He is able to grasp global technology through his Tamil Brain. He helped many layman in Tamil Nadu understand the technology and computers. I am one of the thousands of beneficiaries. I now work in software field. When I was thinking about taking a career in computers (at that time we used to refer software, hardware everything as "computers". I took a career in software), my cousin gave me his book in Tamil in which he narrated interestingly about computer. I got the first level knowledge from that book.

Great loss to Tamil Nadu. May his soul rest in peace.

[x_y_Z_a]

Sorry to note the passing away of Sujatha. May his soul rest in peace. I was an ardent fan of Sujatha and I never used to miss any stories / articles of him.

[Kothai]

Sad to know that Sujatha has passed away.. He is one of the favorite writers' for my mom..

[jai_in_canada]

How old was Sujatha?

[kujo]

70+  maybe 77

[Atithee]

The original post by Sathya states that he was 73.