Sujata Gopali at 06:19, 26 August 2025

2025-08-26T06:19:47Z

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{{Short description|Indian cardiologist and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harbhajan Singh Rissam
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 10 August 1951
| birth_place = [[Jammu]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|17 October 2013|10 August 1951|df=y}}
| death_place = Jammu, India
| restingplace = Shastri Nagar Cremation Ground, Jammu, J&K
| restingplacecoordinates = {{coord|32|41|22|N|74|51|11|E}}
| othername =
| occupation = Interventional cardiologist<br />Writer
| yearsactive =
| known for = Cardiology<br />Medi-fiction
| spouse = Balbir Kaur Rissam
| domesticpartner =
| children =
| parents = Ranjeet Kaur
| website =
| signature =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]
}}
'''Harbhajan Singh Rissam''' (10 August 1951 – 17 October 2013) was an Indian interventional cardiologist, philanthropist <ref name="Two great doctors">{{cite web | url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/opinion/two-great-doctors/195270.html | title=Two great doctors | publisher=Greater Kashmir | date=27 August 2015 | access-date=23 August 2016}}</ref> and writer, known for his medical service and his novel based on medical profession.<ref name="Bigger the hospital, the more the corruption">{{cite web | url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/article328108.ece?service=print | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826110446/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/article328108.ece?service=print | url-status=dead | archive-date=26 August 2016 | title=Bigger the hospital, the more the corruption | publisher=Indian Express | date=6 January 2012 | access-date=23 August 2016}}</ref> He was the director of cardiac clinical services at [[Max Healthcare]], Delhi and his maiden novel, ''The Scalpel - Game Beneath'',<ref name="Rissam2010">{{cite book|author=H. S. Rissam|title=The Scalpel: Game Beneath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTX0SAAACAAJ|year=2010|publisher=Rupa & Company|isbn=978-81-291-1602-4}}</ref> the first book of a proposed trilogy published in 2010, is a medical thriller on the medicine mafia.<ref name="Written by heart">{{cite web | url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/books/written-by-heart/story-iasFdWgKFMthkt4khLGXRI.html | title=Written by heart | publisher=Hindustan Times | date=23 May 2010 | access-date=23 August 2016}}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]], in 2006, for his contributions to medical science.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2013 | access-date=20 August 2016 | archive-date=15 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Biography ==
Harbhajan Singh Rissam, born in 1951 in [[Jammu]] in a Kashmiri Sikh family,<ref name="A Doctor with Scalpel and Pen">{{cite web | url=http://103.16.143.39/udayIndiaArchive/english/content_26june2010/beyond_headlines.html | title=A Doctor with Scalpel and Pen | publisher=Uday India | date=2016 | access-date=23 August 2016 | author=Vaishali Tanwar | archive-date=18 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218124624/http://103.16.143.39/udayIndiaArchive/english/content_26june2010/beyond_headlines.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> in the northern state of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], did his early schooling at Central Basic School, Jammu after which he graduated in science from [[Govt. Gandhi Memorial Science College|Government Gandhi Memorial Science College]].<ref name="Dr HS Rissam passes away">{{cite web | url=http://www.kashmirtimes.in/newsdet.aspx?q=14732 | title=Dr HS Rissam passes away | publisher=Kashmir Times | date=17 October 2013 | access-date=23 August 2016 | archive-date=2 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602212431/http://www.kashmirtimes.in/newsdet.aspx?q=14732 | url-status=dead }}</ref> When his family fled from [[Poonch district, India|Poonch]], he moved with them to Punjab and secured his medical degree from [[Government Medical College, Amritsar]] with gold medal before completing his MD in cardiology at [[Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research]], Chandigarh.<ref name="Zafar and the Mutiny">{{cite web | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100508/saturday/above.htm | title=Zafar and the Mutiny | publisher=The Tribune | work=Sunday Extra feature | date=8 May 2010 | access-date=23 August 2016 | author=Kushwant Singh | author-link=Kushwant Singh }}</ref> Starting his career at the Government Gandhi Memorial Science College<ref name="Medical field and the art of veiled whistle blowing">{{cite web | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130311/jaltrib.htm#3 | title=Medical field and the art of veiled whistle blowing | publisher=JallandharTribune | date=10 March 2013 | access-date=24 August 2016 | author=Aparna Banerji}}</ref> and after a stint in Saudi Arabia, he returned to India to join [[Apollo Hospitals|Apollo Hospital]], Delhi as an interventional cardiologist but, later, moved to [[Max Healthcare]], Delhi as the director of cardiac clinical services.<ref name="Two great doctors"/> In between, he was also associated with [[Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences]], [[Sri Nagar]], [[Fortis Healthcare]] and Batra Hospital, New Delhi.<ref name="Dr HS Rissam passes away" /> He published over 100 medical papers in various national and international journals and presented papers at medical conferences including the conference on ''Conquering Heart Disease in the Himalayan Region'' of the Cardiac Society of Nepal, held in November 2010.<ref name="Harbhajan Singh Rissam Dr. Scalpel Wields His Pen">{{cite web | url=http://sikhchic.com/books/harbhajan_singh_rissam_dr_scalpel_wields_his_pen | title=Harbhajan Singh Rissam Dr. Scalpel Wields His Pen | publisher=The Himalayan | date=16 November 2010 | access-date=23 August 2016 | author=Abhilasha Subba}}</ref> He served as a member of the board of governors of the [[Medical Council of India]], the apex body for medical education in India.<ref name="Take heart from Mediterranean diet, wine">{{cite web | url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/take-heart-from-mediterranean-diet-wine/814918/ | title=Take heart from Mediterranean diet, wine | publisher=Indian Express | date=9 July 2011 | access-date=23 August 2016 | author=Express News Service}}</ref><ref name="Special meeting of ethics committee">{{cite web | url=http://www.mciindia.org/meetings/Ethics/2013/Ethics_Minutes_18.10.2013.pdf | title=Special meeting of ethics committee | publisher=Medical Council of India | date=18 October 2013 | access-date=23 August 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520040500/http://www.mciindia.org/meetings/Ethics/2013/Ethics_Minutes_18.10.2013.pdf | archive-date=20 May 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He was appointed as a member of [[Medical Council of India]] Board of Governors on 14 May 2011 after its reconstitution by Union Health Ministry.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.indiamedicaltimes.com/2011/05/14/dr-k-k-talwar-appointed-new-chairman-of-mci-board-of-governors/ |title=Dr K K Talwar appointed new chairman of MCI Board of Governors | India Medical Times |access-date=19 November 2016 |archive-date=23 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323203856/https://www.indiamedicaltimes.com/2011/05/14/dr-k-k-talwar-appointed-new-chairman-of-mci-board-of-governors/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was also a member of the Asia Pacific Vascular Society<ref name="APVIC Feedback">{{cite web | url=http://apvs.in/apvic-feedback/ | title=APVIC Feedback | publisher=Asia Pacific Vascular Society | date=2016 | access-date=23 August 2016}}</ref> and the Cardiological Society of India.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite journal | pmc=3905262 | title=Obituary | author=K. Sarat Chandra | journal=Indian Heart Journal | date=December 2013 | volume=65 | issue=6 | page=702 | doi=10.1016/j.ihj.2013.12.001}}</ref>

Rissam, who had a penchant for writing, published his first short story, ''Moscow Street'', when he was thirteen.<ref name="Writing with the scalpel">{{cite web | url=http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/130825/commentary-sunday-chronicle/article/doctors%E2%80%99-chamber-tales | title=Writing with the scalpel | publisher=Deccan Herald | date=2016 | access-date=24 August 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011043312/http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/130825/commentary-sunday-chronicle/article/doctors%E2%80%99-chamber-tales | archive-date=11 October 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2006, he took a long break from work and stayed in Paris for three months where he wrote a novel and in 2010, he published it under the title ''The Scalpel - Game Beneath'', which was a medical thriller on the mafia activities associated with medical tourism and [[organ trade]]. The novel, considered by many as an attempt at [[whistle-blowing]], was reported to be the first insider account by a practising doctor in India<ref name="Medical field and the art of veiled whistle blowing" /> and the first medical thriller by an Indian author.<ref name="Visible scars">{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/books/visible-scars/article3290781.ece | title=Visible scars | work=The Hindu | date=8 April 2012 | access-date=24 August 2016| last1=Parthasarathy | first1=Anusha }}</ref> He planned two more novels based on happenings at a medical institute, to complete a trilogy of medical thrillers, but they were never published.<ref name="Diagnosis by fiction, prognosis by plotline">{{cite web | url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/books/article423192.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826123510/http://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/books/article423192.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=26 August 2016 | title=Diagnosis by fiction, prognosis by plotline | publisher=Indian Express | date=24 July 2011 | access-date=23 August 2016 | author=Yogesh Vajpeyi}}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the [[Padma Shri]] in 2006.<ref name="Padma Awards" />

Rissam was married to Balbir Kaur, a medical doctor, and the couple had a son, Harbir Singh Rissam and a daughter, Harmeet Kaur.<ref name="Dr HS Rissam passes away" /> He is survived by his mother Ranjeet Kaur, Brother Jujhar Singh Rissam, Nephews Satwant Singh Rissam & Sandeep Singh Rissam.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://epaper.dailyexcelsior.com/epaperpdf/2013/oct/13oct20/page2.pdf | title=Adds in Daily Excelsior, Jammu | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708034629/https://epaper.dailyexcelsior.com/epaperpdf/2013/oct/13oct20/page2.pdf | archive-date=8 July 2022 }}</ref> His younger nephew Sandeep Singh Rissam is an Engineer by qualification & was working with him in his philanthropy and social works like organizing Blood Donation awareness and other projects .<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.earlytimes.in/newsdet.aspx?q=60713|title=PASJ frames body of volunteers for blood donation - Early Times Newspaper Jammu Kashmir|website=www.earlytimes.in|access-date=2018-01-20}}</ref> He died on 17 October 2013, succumbing to an infection for which he had been hospitalized at [[Max Healthcare]], Delhi. He was cremated at a cremation ground in Shastri Nagar, Jammu, the next day.<ref name="Dr HS Rissam passes away" />

== See also ==
* [[Organ trade]]
* [[Medical tourism]]
* [[Robin Cook (American novelist)]]
{{portal|India|Literature|Medicine}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLUHEDf4s3k | title=The Scalpel Game Beneath - Dr. H.S. Rissam | publisher=Rafiq SRK | work=[[YouTube]] video | date=29 September 2010 | access-date=24 August 2016}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100321/spectrum/book5.htm | title=Racy medical thriller | publisher=The Sunday Tribune | work=The Scalpel: Game Beneath - Review | date=21 March 2010 | access-date=24 August 2016 | author=Cookie Maini}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Medicine}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rissam, Harbhajan Singh}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Jammu]]
[[Category:Medical Council of India]]
[[Category:Indian cardiologists]]
[[Category:Interventional cardiology]]
[[Category:Indian medical writers]]
[[Category:Indian male novelists]]
[[Category:Indian medical academics]]
[[Category:Indian medical administrators]]
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Novelists from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian medical doctors]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]

Harbhajan Singh Rissam - Revision history

Sujata Gopali at 06:19, 26 August 2025