21 February,2021 09:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Jane Borges
Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Shriram Nene launched his YouTube channel—eponymously called Dr Nene - in October, where he doles out tips for better and healthy living
At 95.8K followers on Instagram, and more than a decent half of it on YouTube, Dr Shriram Nene has the numbers, at least, to qualify for social media stardom. The cardiothoracic surgeon, however, doesn't believe in resting on laurels alone. It's a great space, he agrees, but there's a lot of work to be done.
The week we speak to him, Dr Nene is still reeling from the post-birthday celebration high. We know this because of the photographs that have made it on his Instagram timeline. There's been a lot of cake-cutting - modaks too - and his wife, actress Madhuri Dixit Nene, with whom he escaped into the "bubble of nature", seems to have left no stone unturned to ensure he had a fabulous birthday week. Switch to YouTube, and you see the same "fun" person, but this space is where he talks business.
Since October, the doctor and healthcare innovator, who launched his YouTube channel - eponymously called Dr Nene - has been doling out tips for better and healthy living. For someone who, despite having lived under the constant gaze of the media since his marriage to Dixit in 1999, has managed to enjoy his privacy, this new avatar is almost refreshing. The COVID-19 pandemic, he feels, necessitated that. "Before I moved to India [from the US], I had given many lectures, spoken at different [medical] societies, and even published works. So, I was always creating new ways of doing things. When I came here [in 2011], my goal was to innovate in healthcare, and to deliver it to more people. We wanted to do that by creating something, which was a combination of media, technology and a smart services platform, and it has taken a lot of time to get there," he says, in a telephonic interview.
The "pandemonium and panic" surrounding COVID-19 compelled him to act soon. "It was unprecedented. It was becoming more evident that people needed someone they could turn to for the common and and not-so-common stuff; something that is offered in a language they could understand, and is backed by good research. I had been working in healthcare for so long. [I wanted] to give everyone, power to take care of themselves, as well as gain awareness and have access to world-class evidence-based medicine," adds Dr Nene, who has served as chief medical officer and seed investor at GoQii, a wellness startup, and is currently developing a medical platform.
The videos, which range anywhere between three and 20 minutes, have Dr Nene share his expertise on a variety of issues, especially heart disease and COVID-19. Sometimes, he also invites guest doctors for a discussion, or has his wife, Dixit, take on the baton of interviewer, asking him questions on particular health concerns.
"The main theme was to start a dialogue, and get people to begin talking about their own health. Often, at times, we are so busy with our lives, our children, and everything around us, that we forget to stay healthy. I wanted to inspire people to take a breath for a moment, and really love themselves," he says.
Remembering his days as surgeon in Denver, US, he says, often patients came to him "very late in their disease". "While it was rewarding when we could intervene and really make a difference, I couldn't turn back the clock [for them]. The idea was that if we could empower people, and raise awareness, and improve access, we could change the medical history of the disease."
One of his first videos, interestingly, was whether ordering in was safe during the pandemic. "My mother-in-law is old, and we couldn't really take chances [with food delivery], but if this is a risk, I wanted to find out if there was a way to do it safely. So, I did a bit of research, talked to my friends in the medical fraternity, and even experts in the food industry. What we determined very quickly is that this [COVID-19] is not a food-borne disease, and that you can safely order, if one is careful while handling the package," he says.
Another topic of prime interest for Dr Nene - and one that is second nature to him because it's also his area of expertise - is the heart. "Simple things, if done in a timely fashion, can save us a lot of trouble. [At present] everyone is so afraid about going to the doctor, even those complaining of chest pain. My friends here, and even in the US, were telling me how the admissions [last year] were down to 30 per cent of the normal. Probably, we will see more people coming in, in late stage of heart disease, or worse yet, we will see more deaths. In a normal year in India alone, 70 lakh people die of cardio-vascular disease.
What I am trying to do [through these videos] is to gently say that these are things you have to worry about," he says. Dr Nene adds that simple lifestyle
changes - fitness, balanced diet, drinking enough water and practising mindfulness - can go a long way.
Generating content, he says, has hardly been a challenge. "If you ask my wife, she will tell you how much I [also] love to travel. I am a foodie, and I love to know more about cultures. I travel to places, where most people don't go, and I stay in very humble surroundings, because I want to become part of that culture. Similarly, with healthcare, I love to read, learn and understand why and how things are done. I sort of have an engineering mind. So, for me, this is kind of an adventure," he says, adding, "I also have a great team of people that works with me. We have been researching all this material, and brainstorming to find out what people want to know about. Sometimes, my social media crowd will tell me what they want to hear about next, and based on that, we sort of prioritise [our content]. Some things are very khichri, and other things are super deep. The bottom line is that you have fun with it."
When Dr Nene came to India, he had to quit a "perfectly good career" as clinical surgeon, and head of a hospital in the US, to find a new career for himself. "I won't lie, I loved operating. There was a joy in taking care of people. The reward was in seeing their smiling faces. Yes, it was a very tough space. We were often up against a clock. We had just about a millisecond to make a difference in our patients' lives. It was very stressful. But, I had a great team, and Denver was fun. Yet, I realised that no matter how hard I worked, I could only attend to three or five patients [daily]. I wanted to use my talents to benefit a large number of people," he says, while explaining why he made the shift.
"Coming back was refreshing. My grandparents grew up in Dadar, and I would come here [almost] every summer to spend time with them. I had an affinity to this place. India has 10 years lower life expectancy than the US. [I was looking at] what we could do to change that, and how we could improve life." For that, he says, he had to lead from India.
His wife has been most supportive and excited about his social media channel. "Both of us are grounded. We don't buy into the hype and noise; social media can be tough, but I have always kept it very positive," he says. That he sometimes makes special appearances on Madhuri Dixit's YouTube channel, where the couple cooks and sings together, makes it all the more fun. "We both really enjoy working together. I think after 22 years, we have figured that out at least," he laughs. "In the lockdown, in particular, we learnt new skills, and this was our way to communicate with people. For her, it's tougher. Because of her level of celebrity, it's difficult for her to be one-on-one with her fans. But, this gives other people a window into our world, and us, a window into theirs. Believe me, it's been enlightening for both of us. We don't see it as a chore. More than anything I see on the channel, people coming together, launching a grassroots movement, for each other. It's not about me, or my channel. That's what she and I represent."
