Obituary: Dr. A. K. Bajaj (1945–2021)

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Dr. A. K. Bajaj (1945–2021)

January 21, 2021, was one of the saddest and unfortunate days for the skin allergy society as well as for IADVL and IASSTD and AIDS; for all these organizations lost their former president.

Dr. A. K. Bajaj was born in 1945 in undivided India. After partition, his family migrated to India and they settled in Panipat. He graduated in MBBS from Rohtak Medical College and completed his MD dermatology from AIIMS, Delhi. Later, he joined as a teacher at Moti Lal Nehru Medical College, Prayagraj (Allahabad). He was passionate about establishing an independent dermatology department at MLN Medical College and succeeded in pursuing it.

He was a fantastic dermatologist, astute clinician, and impeccable academician, having nearly 50 years of vast experience in clinical dermatology practice. He was passionate about conducting the midsession clinical meet every year in Allahabad where he showcased a highly interesting collection of clinical cases from his practice and this program used to be very popular and widely attended. He was an avid researcher and reader. He especially contributed a lot in the field of contact dermatitis. His work on contact depigmentation due to hair dye and bindi was outstanding.

He was an excellent mentor across generations of dermatologists in India. He was quite approachable and a very practical thinker. His skills in case-based problem-solving were exemplary and they helped an enormous number of budding and growing dermatologists. Not only that, Dr. Bajaj sir insisted on publishing interesting and difficult or novel clinical observations in reputed journals. I was fortunate enough to be guided by him on a couple of difficult occasions not only to diagnose but also to publish those interesting cases. He had a specific quality of quickly identifying one’s skills and capabilities, may it be in the fields of academics and teaching or organizational or even in administration.

Apart from being an excellent physician, Dr. Bajaj was a very polite and humble human being. He was an avid sports personality and regularly played and participated in various tennis tournaments and also participated in cricket, football, and athletics. He always enjoyed the company of his friends, colleagues, and students. He also had a great sense of humor. He had a keen interest in Hindi literature, Urdu poetry, and old Bollywood Hindi songs. Overall, he had a very vibrant personality.

With his sad and unexpected demise, COVID-19 has taken away from us a great visionary, an exemplary mentor, a kind warm friend, a guiding force, and a gem of a person.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Sarita Bajaj (Prof. and head, Department of Medicine and Endocrinology, MLN Medical College), two daughters, Nehanjali (Electronic engineer, settled in the US), Nishika (MBA finance, settled in Singapore), and his loving grandchildren.

Sir, we will always miss you and we pray to the almighty for the eternal peace of your soul. Om Shanti!