Goa’s top surgeon and a green activist together released a book “In Ernest’s Quest” on eminent Goan oncologist Dr. Ernest Borges written by his daughter Renee.
At the International Center in Dona Paula, Goa, a valuable book on the dedicated life of a Goan oncologist, known across India for his kind behavior and humanitarianism, was released on 14 January.
Eminent Dental Surgeon Dr. Suresh Shetye, Dean of Goa Medical College Prof. The family was released at the hands of Dr. Shivanand Bandekar, cancer surgeon Dr. Shekhar Salkar, veteran surgeon from Goa Dr. Bossuet Afonso, Padma Shri awardee and green activist advocate Norma Alvares, a long-time friend of the family.
The book is the result of a years-long search by Renee to understand a man she knew only as her father. She was just ten years old when her father succumbed to the same disease, which he had dedicated his professional career to understanding and treating, at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.
In a brief introduction to the genesis of the book, Renée talks about her realization that her father was more than just a skilled surgeon and loving patriarch when she saw a tribute to Ernest Borges on his birth centenary.
He was a man revered by his patients, his students and society at large; Known for his kindness, compassion and generosity of spirit, while at the same time being demanding in matters that involve patient care, he recalled.
He was a great communicator who had a passion for teaching and a great sense of humour. He was an honest man with a deep and abiding interest in philosophy and ethics, who was held in high esteem by the Catholic Church which conferred on him the highest civilian honour. Yet this did not stop him from questioning his stand on issues of dogma and morality, he said.
All this and much more he learned from personal interviews with many professionals and laymen. Some of these voices were played in the program. Dr. Ernest Borges, as Renée briefly describes him, was truly a man of science and a man of God.
Dr. Shette talked about the qualities of Dr. Ernest Borges and how people still remember his skill and kindness.
Dr Bandekar held him up as a role model worthy of emulation by the medical profession today. He resolved to display this book prominently in the GMC library for the students to read and get inspired by the life of this great man.
Dr. Salkar in his inimitable earthy style recounts his days as a trainee onco-surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital, where the name of Ernest Borges constantly cropped up among his teachers, all the great surgeons and on the road to TMH.
Dr. Afonso remembers Ernest Borges through a personal account of his grandmother, whom he treated. He was a young boy, but he remembers the story his father told him about his meeting with Dr. Borges. He stressed the importance of the gentle touch that comforts a patient which is missing in today’s medicine which prides itself on investigation and where the patient is often a mere spectator.
Advocate Alvares shares her experience of shock when she went to the family home for the funeral of Dr. Borges, who died before reaching his sixtieth birthday. There was an ocean of mourning around the house, most were ordinary people, mourning for a man who had touched their lives in so many ways.
Dr. Sidney Pinto Rosario, Dr. Joseph Brito, Dr. Kedar Padte, Dr. Reshma Salelkar and Evo Cardoso also paid tributes from the floor.
The event was attended by prominent doctors and civil society figures, as well as Ernest Borges’ children and extended family. Dr. Francisco Couto operated.
Source – Goanews