When I came to Calcutta from the UK after finishing FRCS in April 1999 to join Dr R.P. Sengupta in the National Neurosciences Centre, Peerless Hospital, as the head of neurosurgery, I hardly knew anyone in the city.

Sandip (neurosurgeon Sandip Chatterjee, who passed away on September 30), under the guidance of Prof R.N. Roy, Prof M.K. Bhattacharya, Prof Shyamal Das, Prof Aurobindo Mukherjee, Prof Kalyanbrata Bhattacharya, Dr T.K. Banerjee and other faculty members in Neurosciences of Kolkata, was organising the monthly Neuro-Club conference in the then BIN (Bangur Institute of Neurology). The conference now does not happen regularly.

He welcomed me warmly to Kolkata Neuro-Club and our regional society ANEI (Association of Neuroscientists of Eastern India), of which he was a founding member. I was made to feel at home there because of his scholarly camaraderie and personal warmth.

Gradually, we came closer to each other by sharing our professional work and then became personal friends as well, although he was just one year younger to me. I came to know about his exceptional talents in academics and in so many extracurricular activities.

I was very impressed with his command of the English language, especially when he would speak or chair the famous annual Calcutta Club debate, along with our common friendDr Kunal Sarkar.

With time, we participated in and also shared organising many conferences, national and international, on many special branches of neurosurgery, including paediatric neurosurgery, intra-operative neuro-monitoring, brain tumors, endoscopic neurosurgery and spine surgery.

He was also very fond of travelling and as far I know, he had been to most countries and places on Earth, including the North Pole and Antarctica! How he was managing all these, balancing profession and passion, I can’t imagine!

We both decided after discussing with our seniors that we must host the NSICON (annual conference of the Neurological Society of India) in Calcutta, as it was last held here many years ago.

We have been planning for the show in December at ITC Royal and the countdown had started, when Sandip started falling sick and getting admitted to hospitals frequently.

Off and on I would meet him and his wife. They would tell me to take over the role of organising secretary of the conference. I would always reassure them that he was our leader and we were all with him, let him get well soon! But that was not to be.

So prematurely and unexpectedly the end came, despite every effort made by his family, friends and all very accomplished physicians. He was admitted to hospital — ICU — after almost every cycle of chemotherapy and got exhausted towards the end, when he and his family decided to call off the fight after consultation with his doctors.

On September 28, I came to know from a friend from Jaipur that Sandip was terminally ill and wanted to be at home amidst his family. They decided not to go for any further aggressive treatment like ventilation. I rushed to his home and found him in a very critical state. He opened his eyes, possibly recognised me, and was trying to say something, but words wouldn’t come out of his mouth.

Tears rolled down my cheeks. His eyes were also red and watery, maybe he knew that his end was nearing and was very worried about what would happen to his family, hospital, patients and the conference after him. It was a very sombre atmosphere, with his wife clutching his hand and many of his friends, relatives and well wishers near him.

There he was lying in the bed, emaciated, anxious, looking at me. He wanted to say something but was not able to speak.

I assured him that he had contributed to neurosurgery and to society immensely and he did not need to say or prove anything more.

I also assured him that the preparations for NSICON Kolkata 24 were in full swing under his guidance and would happen according to his wishes.

We are devastated by his passing. An international condolence meeting was convened the same evening where every tall leader in neurosurgery from all over the world cried for him and many were choking on their words.

L.N. Tripathy, a senior consultant neurosurgeon (brain and spine), is senior vice-chairman, Medica Superspecialty Hospital and director, Medica Institute of Neurological Diseases, Kolkata