There's a smile on Dr Ramakant Panda's lips as he recounts one of his most high profile patients to date, Prime Minsiter Dr Manmohan Singh.

"There were many VVIPs I treated at Cleveland clinic in USA but this man here was the prime minister of my country. That said, we are taught to disassociate ourselves from celebrity patients and so for 90 per cent of the time, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was just a patient. The other ten per cent? Well, let's just say I'd was as anxious as anyone else," laughed the surgeon at his cabin in Asian Heart Institute at BKC.



Panda will travel back to Delhi this Sunday to remove the surgery stiches. The cardiac surgeon who has operated on hundreds before says that Singh was a 'model patient.'

"He was always concerned about other patients in the hospital and insisted that they not be inconvenienced. Moreover in spite of being a diabetic and hypertensive patient, he had maintained his diet well and we didn't have too many major complications to deal with during surgery.

When the breathing pipe was finally removed after the surgery, his first words were thank you and his second sentence was if all was well in the country or not? If we allowed him, he would have been on his feet in a week but he will have to rest for six weeks before resuming duties."