Professor SD Nishith, Ex Professor and Head, Department of Physiology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, left for his heavenly abode on 4th December, 2020.

Professor Nishith was born on 6th July, 1929 in Unnao District of UP, in a lower middle-class family. Professor Nishith, was Professor and Head, Department of Physiology at the King George's Medical University, Lucknow from 1980 until his retirement in 1989. Considered one of India's leading physiologists, he is recognized for guiding approximately 42, MD and Ph D students all over the country.

Professor Nishith is survived by his wife, Prabha ji and three brilliant children. The eldest of his three children is Dr Shirish Nishith, MS, Ophthalmology settled in the UK. The middle one is Captain Sunil Nishith, working in Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Navi Mumbai. The youngest is Dr Pallavi Nishith, Ph D in Clinical/Counselling Psychology and residing in the US.

The family members of the departed soul realise very well his noble mission to unleash human potential by proper teaching and training of his undergraduate and postgraduate students during his entire life as a Physiologist of the country. Dr Shirish, his eldest son, conveyed that his father was a " man for all seasons" and lived with integrity. Capt. Sunil conveyed that , " his father never taught anything without striving to live it first and he never bothered to care much about what others thought about him and he had just enjoyed his fun-living personality with a noble aim in life. Pallavi, her daughter, said Perhaps the greatest compliment she can pay her father is that along with his great teaching skills in physiology in public, her father was even better in private life as a good husband and father and we all loved him for his greatness. that consistency. He taught us by example that " life is a mission and not a career," and that we could find true happiness by serving others. We will always be grateful for such a great father.

Brief Biodata of Professor Shiva Datta Nishith

Date of Birth: 6th July, 1929.

Educational Qualification:

1- MBBS, KGMC, Lucknow University, Lucknow    1957

2- MD (Physiology) KGMC, Lucknow University, Lucknow    1960

3- MS ( Physiology) Wisconsin University, US    1961

4- Ph. D (Physiology) Baroda University, Baroda    1970

Worked as Professor and Head, Department of Physiology and Principal In-charge R.M.C, Imphal 1976-1977

Worked as Professor and Head, Department of Physiology and Vice-Principal R.M.C, Imphal 1977-1979

Worked as Professor and Head, Department of Physiology and Principal R.M.C, Imphal 1979-1980

Worked as Professor and Head, Department of Physiology, K. G's Medical College, Lucknow , 1980-1989

PROFESSOR NISHITH, A GREAT MENTOR AND TEACHER

Professor Nishith, too, created a deep impact on my teaching approach. He taught the difficult physiology topic of the central nervous system in an unscramble manner, to get down to basic understanding of the topic to each and every student. Moreover, his love and dedication towards teaching made him create an unofficial record of non- cancellation or postponement of any of his lecture sessions.

Professor Nishith loved his students. His passion was learning and teaching Physiology. He was the most dedicated and committed teacher, I came across in my whole teaching career of around 34 years. He possessed all those seven qualities which make a teacher highly effective which are as follows: Integrity, Effective communication skill, humility, lifelong learner, passionate towards teaching and learning, building long-term relationships with students and colleagues and self-awareness and reflection. (Reference no: 1).

He studied MBBS and MD (Physiology) from prestigious King George's Medical College, Lucknow in late 1950's. I recall now that, "He was always attentive to the needs of students and staff members of the Department of Physiology. He never closed his door to students, and he was the only teacher I ever knew to turn down an invitation to give a prestigious lecture if it conflicted with his teaching schedule."

I would like to conclude and summarize the qualities of late Professor Nishith, my teacher and mentor, by two inspirational quotes by William A. Ward ``The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” Professor Nishith was a great teacher. For imparting teaching and learning, Professor Nishith and William A. Ward had a similar opinion: “Teaching is more than imparting knowledge; it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts; it is acquiring understanding.”

PROFESSOR NISHITH, HIGHLY-DISCIPLINED TEACHER AND RESEARCH SCIENTIST

According to Gp Capt. (Dr) Pradeep Kumar Jain (Earlier Professor and Head Physiology in Indian Air Force), now Dean (Examination) & Professor and Head, Department of Physiology, KMMCH, Mathura (UP), Dr SD Nishith was a renowned Physiologist of India and an excellent human being. He was an excellent teacher and research worker and has been instrumental in teaching and training the large number of doctors in India and abroad. He contributed more than 60yrs of his life for the growth of Physiology speciality. My first interaction with him was when he joined as a Professor and Head, Department of Physiology at King George's Medical College in Lucknow and I joined the department of Physiology for my MD in 1980.

He had an excellent habit of having a diary/chit and using it for his routine teaching, training, meetings and other academic activities. I consider it very useful for any sincere professional personality and I am also using diaries personally for my day-to-day professional work. In my opinion, His above-mentioned qualities still have value and are not obsolete; and can be helpful for any one of us in any adverse situations. It is worth mentioning here that I was his first MD student at KGMC, Lucknow and his qualities as enumerated above are requisite for an Ideal teacher and philosopher. It has left a permanent impression in my mind and many of his successor students like Dr SK Singh, Dr Ram Ji Singh and others. I learned these qualities from him in my initial stage of career itself.

Regarding my 4yrs of continuous association with him from 1980-1983, especially during MD dissertation, his guidance helped me in improving my skills in communication which even yielded in getting Angiotensin for research purpose from abroad at free of cost; better research skills on animal experimentation on dogs, rabbits etc and research paper writings. He was a motivating factor in preparation for my presentation of my first research paper at APPI conference at Baroda during 1982. He even guided me and motivated me to join defence forces after my MD and told me that I can have my Physiology career in defence forces also, which ultimately resulted in my joining Armed Forces on 10 Jan 1984. His training really helped me in my successful career in Indian Air Force where I did lot of research activities, especially related with microgravity in albino rats using AOH (Anti Orthostatic Hypokinetic) models and analysing muscle and bone changes during weightlessness and the possible preventive measures; and also in many studies in human models using dry floatation technique for microgravity; and also many research studies in the field of thermal stress. His training in research paper writing even led to my winning the most prestigious research paper award of Indian Air Force ‘Om Satya Mehra Award’ for the best research papers, twice consecutively during 2002 and 2003. I owe all my research activity skills to Dr SD Nishith and consider myself fortunate to have him as my MD research guide.

My other memorable interaction with him was during one of the APPICON 2002 at Lucknow. It was a very peculiar situation for me as my teacher, philosopher and guide Dr SD Nishith was reading a research paper in a conference and I was the chairperson of that scientific session. But his presentation in time, simplicity, humbleness and speaking even a few words about me was very much rewarding to me. I will always remain thankful to Dr SD Nishith for guiding me in my professional career and he has admired me for his simplicity, discipline, ultra-professionalism, always respecting to others including his juniors, non- teaching staff and continuously and tirelessly working for the teaching and training of students even till the age of 86 years.

PROFESSOR NISHITH, A TEACHER PAR EXCELLENCE AND A TRUE ROLE MODEL

Dr J M Harsoda, another Professor Nishith student, Head of the Department of Physiology at the Smt B.K.Shah Medical Institute and Research Centre, Sumandeep University, Vadodara said, "A better role model for life and science could not be imagined. No one had a greater influence upon my own life and scientific career."

No person lasts forever, but his values and character can endure.

We will always be grateful for inspiring, educating and motivating us for such a great teacher and human being in the form of Late Professor S D Nishith.

Dr SK Singh, Professor Physiology Gp Capt (Dr) PK Jain, Professor Physiology and Dean (Examination), KMMCH Mathura