The Spiritual Surgeon
The purpose of human life is to do good to all. If there is a rebirth I would like to live this life all over again ! These are the thoughts of Laparoscopic and Gastro-intestinal Surgeon Dr Aditya Tripathy. Born in Bhubaneswar, he grew up in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and went to the famous St George's Grammar School in Hyderabad. Famous alumni from the school include Rakesh Sharma -- the first Indian to travel in space, and many well known cricketers. He graduated in medicine and surgery from the SCB medical College, Cuttack And went on to obtain his Master's Degree in Surgery from the Armed Forces Medical College [AFMC] under the University of Poona. Subsequently he worked and gained experience in Surgical Laparoscopy and Gastro-intestinal surgery At the Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad where he trained with surgeons of international repute like Dr K Ravindranath, Bruckhard Helms of Germany and several other European surgeons. In 1993, he was the first doctor to introduce Advanced Surgical Laparoscopy in Odisha and the whole of Eastern India. In his pioneering and sustained efforts to train fellow surgeons he travelled the length and breadth of Odisha, and thus today thanks to his selfless efforts laparoscopic surgery is widely practised in this state.Guided by his thoughts of service above self Dr aditya tripathy has performed over 18000 laparoscopic surgeries successfully in the past 21 years with results comparable to the best in the world. In his relentless persuit to deliver the highest level of health care the ADITYA CARE HOSPITAL was born. Incorporating and adopting the latest advancements in health care and the very special humen touch are his hall marks as a surgeon and enterpreneur. Operational since 2007 Aditya Care Hospital at Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar is amongst the earliest of corporate hospitals in Odisha with disciplined and standardised services in Surgical and Medical sciences particularly Laparoscopy and Cardiology
A fan of thrill, speed and adventure, Dr Tripathy enjoys high-adrenalin adventure sports. From sky diving to bunjee-jumping. While he enjoys bird watching and hiking the preservation of nature with all its species are dear to him ; swimming , golf and tennis being not far behing! Favourite books are those by Swami Shivananda and Vivekananda .Talking to Paramahamsa Prajnanananda and spending time at his ashram at Balighai, Puri proved to be a life changing experience for him. “The whole of humanity is one large family “ “This being the absolute truth no wonder all those patients who come to me and trust me enough to get under my surgical knife are surely my very own.” Many have even written overwhelmingly emotional letters, thanking him for giving them a new lease of life. “I think it is this emotional connect that I share with my patients that keeps me going,” he says. Serious yet fun-loving, on one ocassion while on a ferry from Dover to Caleigh he climbed up the mast for a better view of the English Channel. While exploring new countries and cultures is his passion, Dr Tripathy also enjoys a good game of billiards and snooker.
“Care for all and love everyone,” says Dr Tripathy. He believes that this motto is the crux of inner peace in one's life. Constant and deliberate attempts at incorporating this lesson into his life have helped him deal with the toughest of situations and emerge a winner.
Dr Tripathy gets his zest for life from his parents. Though his father passed away 20 years back, he enjoys taking care of his mother, Mrs Gayatri Tripathy, a famous writer and celebrated author of several award winning novels; she has also produced many meaningful programs for Doordarshan. “My father was a secular to the hilt. It's funny that as children we didn't know for a long time that were so called Brahmins !” he recalled. “ If not a doctor I would surely have been a race-car driver” “My father had made it clear that we could choose between becoming an engineer or a doctor. True to this, my older brother chose engineering, while my other brother and I became doctors: that was the thinking those days” he laughed. A supreme believer in the Almighty, he still does a silent prayer for everything to go smoothly before each surgery. Recalling a case that was nothing less than a miracle, he shared, “There was this man who was suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and I had operated on him. At discharge from hospital I thought I had seen the last of him;but as God would have it, he showed up at my door few months later and thanked me profusely for saving his life.” Talking about all his cases so far, he was genuinely amused while recalling the first time people recognised his abilities as a doctor. “My maternal uncle complained of discomfort and was in pain. I was a new doctor still in training, but was still called upon to check him while his doctor was on his way to our house. I examined him thoroughly and said that he has a peptic perforation (a hole in the stomach). No one took me very seriously when I said that he needs to be taken into surgery at the earliest. With the arrival of the doctor, my diagnosis was confirmed and realisation dawned on my family and relatives of my abilities as a doctor,” he recounted.
A celebrated and widely recognised doctor, Dr Tripathy has been felicitated many times. Despite all his accolades and awards, he cherishes the one when he was presented by the former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. In fact, Dr Kalam inaugurated the Aditya Care Hospital. He also takes pride in being a part of the handful of doctors who don't refuse surgical treatment to HIV+ patients or those suffering from Hepatitis C. “These patients have highly infectious diseases and need to be operated on with a lot of caution. My belief that all beings are equal motivates me to not turn away such patients,” he says.