Early Life and Education

DR HS Subrahmanyam, MBBS Bsc DPM (NIMHANS) FRCP FRCP FRCPsych was born in 1929 in Mysore, Karnataka to an accountant and a homemaker, the first of 10 siblings. He had to support his family from the age of fourteen. He completed his Bsc and worked as a teacher before enrolling in Mysore Medical College on a scholarship. He completed his DPM at what is now NIMHANS and met his future wife, HY Kasturi.

Establishment of Medical Practice

He was well employed in the city's government hospitals but recognised that they neither welcomed nor cared for the mentally ill. He established a thriving private practice before he established Manasa Nursing Home. Around the same time, he had begun working at St Martha's Hospital and went on to establish the psychiatry department in St John's Hospital, Bangalore. He set up its psychiatric inpatient service, a rarity for that era.

Legacy and Rememberance

Dr Subrahmanyam had a lifelong drive to help people, and he set up and supported a number of charitable healthcare, welfare and educational institutions, including an orphanage for boys. Outside of medicine and philanthropy, he had varied cultural interests, including classical Carnatic music, Sanskrit and old Kannada literature and philosophy. He hosted chamber music concerts at home and organized a weekly poetry and literature club with erudite friends. His love for books was evident in the bookshelves that occupied every room of his home. An avid traveller, he enjoyed holidays in both far-flung and nearby places. Together with his wife, he cultivated a thriving rose garden, nurtured plants from around the world and transformed a farm to grow fruit trees.

Career in the UK

He went to the UK for higher studies, lived and worked in Edinburgh and gained memberships to three prestigious Royal Colleges. He secured a consultant post in Coilchester, England, but returned within a year to India and married HY Kasturi.

Passion for Research and Teaching

He had long held a passion for research, even housing mice and monkeys in his home. His interests ranged from hot water epilepsy and ECT to organic mental disorders. He was a gifted teacher, mentoring and inspiring scores of young psychiatrists before retiring in the 1980s.

Philanthropy and Cultural Pursuits

Dr Subrahmanyam was a charismatic doctor with a quick temper and an even readier smile. His laugh boomed, and his generosity was legendary. His patients looked up to him not only for his brilliance and compassion but also for his guidance and warmth. He continued to see his patients until shortly before his death in 2004. He is missed not just by his family but also by the countless families that he helped and influenced.