On October 6, 2025, one of the most revered teachers I have ever known, Prof. Srikantaiah R, left this world at the age of 86.

Yet, even as I write these lines, I cannot bring myself to say he is gone. For those of us whose lives he shaped, he remains as alive as the values he instilled, the discipline he demanded, and the passion he ignited. He laid the very foundations upon which many of our medical careers still stand strong. Some people teach you lessons; others teach you how to live those lessons. Prof. Srikantaiah belonged to that rare and noble second kind.

The First Clinical Encounter

I can still picture that first day of our MBBS clinical posting in General Surgery. The wards smelled faintly of antiseptic, stethoscopes hung from nervous shoulders, and hearts pounded with a mixture of excitement and fear. Into that scene walked Prof. Srikantaiah R — tall, composed, his gaze kind but penetrating. He spoke little at first, yet the silence carried authority.

Our first bedside class under him was a revelation. He taught not merely how to examine a patient, but why we must do so with reverence, curiosity, and responsibility. He would gently place his hand on a patient’s abdomen, listen intently, and then look at us with eyes that seemed to ask, Are you seeing what I’m seeing?

That day, he uttered words that have remained etched in my mind ever since:

“Hutchison and Das and Das — the textbooks of clinical medicine and surgery — must become your Bhagavad Gita for life. Keep them on your bedside table, and read a few pages every single day.”

The simplicity of the statement belied its profundity. To him, medicine was not just a profession; it was a lifelong spiritual discipline. The act of examining a patient was sacred — a dialogue between compassion and curiosity, science and soul.

Lessons That Outlived the Classroom

Those words did not end with that class. They became the silent compass of my career. Every page I turned in those textbooks seemed to echo his voice. Every clinical puzzle I solved traced back to his insistence on first principles: observation, deduction, and humility before the patient.

Years later, during my postgraduate training at one of India’s most prestigious institutions — PGIMER, Chandigarh — I realized how much those early teachings had prepared me. In the midst of complex investigations and advanced imaging, it was often the subtle signs picked up at the bedside that guided the correct diagnosis. Each time my hands rested on a patient’s pulse, I felt I was touching not just life but also the living legacy of Prof. Srikantaiah’s training.

The Vanishing Art of Bedside Medicine

Today, medicine stands at the crossroads of breathtaking technological progress. Scanners can reveal what once was hidden; algorithms can predict what once seemed uncertain. Yet, something irreplaceable seems to be fading — the art of clinical examination. Bedside teaching, the heart of traditional medical education, is gradually yielding to screens and scans.

I often remind my students of Prof. Srikantaiah’s wisdom. “Never let a machine replace your mind or your touch,” I tell them. “Use technology to confirm what your hands and eyes have already discovered.” The thrill of correlating a physical sign with a diagnosis — the joy of understanding disease through observation — remains unmatched.

Every time I utter these words, I know I am only echoing him. His philosophy flows through generations like a sacred tradition passed from teacher to student. His teaching was not just about how to examine a patient; it was about how to respect one.

A Teacher Beyond Time

Great teachers never really die; they merely shift classrooms. Somewhere, perhaps in a celestial ward, Prof. Srikantaiah R is still teaching — guiding a group of eager souls on how to listen to the heartbeat of creation itself.

His life reminds us that true immortality lies not in years lived but in lives touched. He did not leave behind monuments of stone; he left monuments of character. His students, now scattered across the globe, continue to practice the medicine of empathy and precision that he preached. In every correct diagnosis made, in every patient treated with compassion, his spirit breathes again.

Carrying the Flame Forward

Whenever I take a clinical class — whether for undergraduates beginning their journey or postgraduates honing their craft — I make it a point to repeat his golden words about Hutchison and Das and Das. I tell them about the power of daily learning, the sanctity of the bedside, and the joy of understanding rather than merely memorizing.

It is my quiet tribute to a man who, forty years ago, transformed my idea of what it means to be a doctor. By passing on his wisdom, I feel as though I keep him alive — not just in memory but in action. His teaching philosophy has become a living current that flows through every new generation of learners.

A Legacy Etched in Eternity

As I think of him today, I am filled not with sorrow but with gratitude. The sadness of loss softens when you realize that some presences are too luminous to fade. The physical form may be gone, but the ideals remain — shining, steady, eternal. Prof. Srikantaiah R’s spirit lives in every student who still bends over a patient’s bedside with curiosity and compassion. It lives in every young doctor who chooses to listen before ordering a test, to observe before concluding, and to care before curing.

He once told us that medicine was a moral science — one that demands intellect guided by conscience. Today, as we navigate an era of rapid medical change, his words resound louder than ever. For the heart of medicine still beats strongest where human touch meets human need.

So, as I close this tribute, I whisper the same prayer that echoes in the hearts of countless students he mentored:


“May you keep teaching, Sir — wherever you are.”

Because teachers like Prof. Srikantaiah R never leave us; they simply become the quiet voice within that guides us to be better doctors, and above all, better human beings.

Dr. Prahlada N.B
MBBS (JJMMC), MS (PGIMER, Chandigarh). 
MBA in Healthcare & Hospital Management (BITS, Pilani), 
Postgraduate Certificate in Technology Leadership and Innovation (MIT, USA)
Executive Programme in Strategic Management (IIM, Lucknow)
Senior Management Programme in Healthcare Management (IIM, Kozhikode)
Advanced Certificate in AI for Digital Health and Imaging Program (IISc, Bengaluru). 

Senior Professor and former Head, 
Department of ENT-Head & Neck Surgery, Skull Base Surgery, Cochlear Implant Surgery. 
Basaveshwara Medical College & Hospital, Chitradurga, Karnataka, India. 

My Vision: I don’t want to be a genius.  I want to be a person with a bundle of experience. 

My Mission: Help others achieve their life’s objectives in my presence or absence!

My Values:  Creating value for others. 

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