Bhattacharyas together not only in life and career, but also illness

B K Bhattacharya and his wife Teresa Bhattacharya, both distinguished IAS officers who rose to the rank of Chief Secretary of Karnataka, appear to be together not only in life and career, but also in illness.

B K Bhattacharya, a native of West Bengal, and Teresa Bhattacharya, who hails from Kerala, who tied the nuptial knot in 1972 shared a common interest for public service. Both of them rose to the rank of Chief Secretary of Karnataka and occupied the hot seat one after the other just at the turn of the century.

Now, in their retirement, both have been diagnosed with triple vessel coronary disease. Bhattacharya and his wife were diagnosed with similar heart ailment and both underwent a beating heart triple by-pass at a private hospital in Bangalore recently.

“After you are married for a long time, you tend to have everything alike, but this is a very big co-incidence. But, there is nothing scientific linking it”, said the chief cardio-thoracic and vascular surgeon of the private hospital Vivek Jawali. He performed the by pass on Teresa, who is 66 years, in the first week of May and Bhattacharya, who is 67 years, in August.

“While my wife had breathlessness, after which she was diagnosed with the condition, my symptoms were almost insignificant”, said Bhattacharya. “As we were heading to the US for the birth of our granddaughter, I underwent a complete medical check up when this triple vessel coronary disease was found”, he added.

Teresa, who underwent a surgery almost four months ago, said she was feeling much better now. But, Bhattacharya will take some more time to be completely fit for the trip to USA, she added.