‘‘A mild mannered, perfect gentleman’’. That’s how doctors who worked with Dr Navin Hiranandani remembered him.
‘‘He had a very cheerful disposition. He was a very senior ENT surgeon. I often referred my patients to him, who always came back happy,’’ said Dr B K Goyal, honorary dean of Bombay Hospital.
Dr Goyal, also a close family friend of the Hiranandanis, heard of his death in the evening after finishing surgery.
Navin worked for several years at the Hospital and his speciality was ear. ‘‘The eldest son, a man of few words and devoted to his work, he followed his father’s (Dr L H Hiranandani’s) footsteps, who is legendary in the field of ENT,’’ Dr Goyal said.
‘‘I met him a month ago at Bombay Hospital. His OPD was opposite mine and he was inquiring about a patient. He was always cheerful so this incident has shocked us,’’ said Dr Ashish Tiwari from Bombay Hospital.
Dr Navin Hiranandani also taught at the T N Medical College attached to the B Y L Nair hospital for almost 30 years.
‘‘He was a very down-to-earth person. He never referred to the family he came from. I know that he often paid from his pocket for poor patients,’’ said Dr M H Shah, deputy dean of Nair Hospital. ‘‘We can’t understand what has happened today. He was a jolly good man, never did it seem like he was depressed.’’
Though Dr Vijay Shetty from Dr L H Hiranandani hospital had met him just once in five months since he joined the hospital, he recalled: ‘‘He spent a lot of time discussing my area of speciality (hip and knee surgery). I was touched by the way he carried himself and kept himself up-to-date about the developments in the field.’’