I was at the Rashtrapati Bhawan with two great doctors – Dr. Kakarla Subbarao (b. 1925) and Dr. B. Soma Raju (b. 1948). I met them first when I was admitted to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in an emergency, in January 1986. Dr. Subbarao was Director, NIMS, and Dr. Soma Raju was Chief of Cardiology. A special bond developed from that seemingly awkward moment between the four of us – Dr. Kalam, Dr. Subbarao, Dr. Soma Raju and I – that led to the setting up of the International School in 1991 by Dr. Subbarao, inspired by Dr. Kalam, and the creation of India’s first coronary stent (Kalam-Raju) stent.

In 2002, I wrote ‘A Doctor’s Story of Life & Death’, based on the life and insights of Dr. Subbarao. It was reprinted in 2012 and sought after by serious seekers of answers about human health and mortality. In my book, ‘Guiding Soul’ (published in 2005), when I asked Dr. Kalam, “Is it necessary that we should be inspired by those who lived in the past, or can even people who are alive be our guides?” Dr. Kalam answered, “Difficult. Ego normally comes in between two living people.” When I asked if could he name any living person who inspired him, he instantly replied, “Dr. Verghese Kurien (b. 1921) and Dr. Kakarla Subbarao.”

 When, in 2012, a student asked Dr. Kalam which work of his gave him the most happiness, Dr. Kalam replied that it was the development of the stent. He said that achievements related to one’s business, job or hobby are selfish pursuits. It is the work you do keeping others in mind, that counts in the eyes of God. Dr. Kalam went on to share that once, when travelling by train to Dehradun from Delhi, a person approached him and said with folded hands, “Sir, I am carrying two of your stents in my heart.” He said that no Bharat Ratna, no presidency, no whatever could match the gratitude in the eyes of that man on the train.

I accompanied President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to Arunachal Pradesh. We flew in from Delhi to Guwahati and shifted to Mi-8 helicopters, which majestically rise to 15,000 ft to cross over the Sela Pass. It was the first time I experienced a helicopter ride. And what a first time it was! We landed in Tawang. I was not prepared for the cold. The bright sun and clear blue sky were very deceptive. The loving-kind Chief Minister, Mukut Mithi, asked someone to get me a traditional jacket.

I had heard about Tawang as a child, when the Chinese had invaded this region, called NEFA (North-East Frontier Agency), later renamed as Arunachal Pradesh, the place where the sun arrives earliest on the Indian territory. I always felt special relating it with my own name. The next day was Dr. Kalam’s 72’nd birthday. We spent a good time inside the huge Tawang Monastery, known in Tibetan as Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, meaning, ‘celestial paradise in a clear night’. “What is root cause of the problems of the world?” Dr. Kalam asked Rinpoche (the head monk). “Me and Mine,” came the curt and crisp and unambiguous reply.

While leaving, official photographer of the President Samar Mondal captured a fleeting moment when I was standing with the monks, which has become my best photo ever clicked. I later visited Tawang with my wife and sons and took many pictures, but the magic of this snap never returned. Though it was a fleeting moment, it was not a frozen moment; it pulsates in my heart and I can feel it anytime.