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OBITUARY |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 41
| Issue : 2 | Page : 227 |
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Dr. D. K. Gupta (1932-2020)
Somesh Gupta
Professor of Skin and VD, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| Date of Submission | 27-Oct-2020 |
| Date of Decision | 01-Nov-2020 |
| Date of Acceptance | 02-Nov-2020 |
| Date of Web Publication | 11-Nov-2020 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Somesh Gupta
Professor of Skin and VD, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijstd.ijstd_117_20
How to cite this article:
Gupta S. Dr. D. K. Gupta (1932-2020). Indian J Sex Transm Dis 2020;41:227 |
Dr. D. K. Gupta is no more! It is a personal loss to me.
1980s were different times. Dermato-Venereology was a neglected branch. In six medical colleges of Madhya Pradesh, there was no separate Department of Dermato-Venereology, and worse, there were no specialists in this specialty at most of those medical colleges.
He had a dream of having MD in Jabalpur in which they succeeded. Since specialists in Dermato-Venereology were not freely available to start an MD course, he decided to take a major personal decision – he asked his spouse, Prof. (Mrs.) Usha Gupta to pursue MD in Dermatology and Venereology (D&V); even though she had already done her postgraduate (PG) in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pathology. This was a major sacrifice for the advancement of D&V training in Central India, which only Gupta couple could have done.
The department had a full in-patient ward, a very good side laboratory, and a decent minor operation theater, all because Dr. D. K. Gupta influenced administration. I was lucky enough to join as the first PG student in that department after the course was re-started in 1994. When I joined, I saw a sense of satisfaction in the eyes of Dr. D. K. Gupta, who was a Prof. Emeritus by then. He would encourage us to present seminars and journal clubs, in which he was ahead of his time. Such was the impact of his initiative that the first few students from Jabalpur are contributing to the specialty in a great manner. I was fortunate enough to carry forward my journey from Jabalpur to PGIMS, Rohtak, PGIMER, Chandigarh, and finally to AIIMS, New Delhi. Dr. Vishal Madan is a well-known Dermatology consultant in the UK who has written a chapter in the Rook Textbook of Dermatology and published in journals such as Lancet. Such was the foundation set by Dr. D. K. Gupta. He had organized XIV Annual IADVL Conference (1987), IV Indian Sexology Conference, and XII IAS STD AIDS Conference (1986) and many other conferences and workshops. He served as the IADVL President in 1987 and the IAS STD AIDS President in 1988 and 1989.
He was a magnetic, impressive, and affectionate personality. When we would visit their home, we were generously offered stuffed parathas, pickle, and curd. Sitting at his beautiful terrace garden and shyly asking for more Parathas is still fresh in my mind. Today, when he is no more, his affectionate magnanimity has become alive like a movie running retrograde. May his soul rest in peace!
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