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He was feted and fussed over in October 2000, when he successfully operated upon Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's left knee at Bombay's Breach Candy Hospital.
Dr Chitaranjan S Ranawat, director of the Center for Total Joint Replacement at New York's Lennox Hospital, is now set for an encore -- this time, on Vajpayee's right knee.
"He is having pain in the right knee, which has been bothering him," Dr Ranawat told this correspondent. Last October, doctors had ruled out simultaneous surgery on the right knee to treat a moderately arthritic condition.
"It will take him around the same time, from four to six weeks, to recover," Dr Ranawat said, referring to the impending surgery, for which he and his entire team are scheduled to fly down to Bombay. He added that the left knee had responded well to the earlier operation and no further surgery was deemed necessary.
The surgeon dismissed worries that the prime minister's weight or age could cause complications. "You can't make people younger," Dr Ranawat said, adding that in such cases as arthritis, operations were routinely conducted on patients past the age of 65.
"He is like any good patient," the surgeon said about his patient. Asked whether the paraphernalia of security guards, pushy colleagues and crowds irritated him, he said, "It does eat into my time, yes, but but doesn't bother me."
Referring to criticism that the expertise for such an operation was available in India itself, and that there was no need for him and his team to be flown down from New York, the surgeon said, "Yes, of course, the expertise is available within the country, such operations are done many times."
So is he the chosen one because the prime minister trusts him? "That, you will need to ask the PM," Dr Ranawat said.
While undergoing surgery on his left knee, the prime minister remained conscious throughout, and in a position to be able to take emergency decisions on matters of national security. This time round, as well, the operation will be performed with the PM retaining full consciousness throughout, Dr Ranawat said.
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