A tribute: In loving memory of my grandfather Prof Dr Abdul Mottaleb

When my maternal grandfather travelled to Dhaka from his village home in 1951, he was a young man accompanied only by his dreams and aspirations. On 6th March, 2014 he made the journey back for the last time never to return again - this time he was accompanied by his four children, eleven grand-children, two great grand-children and six decades of illustrious career as a notable physician whose life is nothing less of inspirational for those who knew him.
Professor Dr Abdul Mottaleb was born in a respectable and affluent Muslim family in Lalmohan, Bhola. He secured first divisions in his matriculation and I Sc exams in the then East Pakistan. People from far corners of his district came to see him when the results came out. After that he came to Dhaka where he was initially admitted to the department of history at Dhaka University. But he hoped of becoming a doctor and so got himself admitted to Dhaka Medical College the following year. His memory was very sharp. Even at his old age he could still remember the historical dates he memorized as a student of history in 1951.
He completed his MBBS from Dhaka Medical College in 1956. As a student of Dhaka Medical College in 1952, he witnessed the historical events of 21st February and saw many of his fellow students fall before his own eyes. He remembered the details vividly. After graduation, he entered into residency in Dhaka Medical College and stayed there for two years. In 1958, he travelled to the United States of America to join Lancashire Hospital, Pennsylvania as a resident physician. He came to Glasgow, Scotland in 1960 to study for his post-graduation. He successfully completed his exams for DTM&H and Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (MRCP) in 1964. In the same year, he came back to Bangladesh and joined the Diabetic Association of East Pakistan as the executive director and the Pakistan Research Council as an assistant director. Thereafter, he spent a year in Rajshahi Medical College as an associate professor. He came back to the Diabetic Association again in 1968 and stayed there for four years.
In 1970, he became a Nuffield fellow at the Middlesex Hospital, London. His supervisors there warned him about the impending war and asked him to settle in London permanently. He refused and came back home. During the liberation war, his name was on the list of intellectuals who were to be killed for assisting freedom fighters. He luckily escaped the army envoy that came to capture him. Against all adversaries, he used to send medical supplies to freedom fighters across the Buriganga River during the war.
After liberation, he joined Barisal Medical College as professor of medicine. He became principal and professor of medicine of Chittagong Medical College in 1976. In 1982, he became a Fellow of the prestigious Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) and joined Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital as the principal and professor of medicine. He officially retired in 1989. Thereafter he spent five years at King Fahd Hospital, Saudia Arabia as senior consultant in medicine and gastroenterology. After returning home, he continued his practice and used to teach at Z H Shikder Women's Medical College, Dhaka. He never truly retired from his practice and continued to see patients until the day he died. At the age of 87, he used to travel to his village home each week for two days and treated patients there. He was also the President of Bhola District Association in Dhaka.
I have known him to be a kind and soft hearted man who lived his whole life with utmost honour and dignity. He had a very healthy, active and prosperous life. He liked Tagore's songs and writings. He was quite popular with his patients and treated subsequent generations of many of his early patients. He was very caring and deeply pious. All his life he practiced moderation in everything he did and advised others to do so. He had deep knowledge of Islam and was deeply influenced by the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet's (peace be upon him) life was his guiding principle and he tried to follow him whole heartedly. As it had been said that the creator has ordained that saving one human life is equivalent to saving all of humanity, my grandfather hoped that saving people's lives as a doctor would bring him great rewards in the hereafter. He started to build an Islamic Learning Center in his village home at Lalmohan but could not complete it. He was able to construct the mosque and the orphanage.
His contributions to the lives of his children, grandchildren and even his great grandchildren are beyond any measurement. To them, he was a true 'guardian'. He was always there, watching over and providing care. He never forgot his roots and came back again and again to his people. To his patients, he was a reliable and trustworthy care giver to whom they could turn to in time of need.
To me, his greatest achievement in this world remains the love and care he so whole-heartedly gave to his family and fellow people. He was a peaceful man all his life and passed away peacefully in his bed in the evening of March 5, 2014. He now rests beside the mosque he built in his village home. He would be forever missed dearly by all who knew him and his loving memory lives on in our hearts. For me, he was and will always be the single most influential and inspirational person in my life.
The writer is a Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln's Inn and Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
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