FORMER ARMY CHIEF AND WIFE MARCH SIDE BY SIDE INTO SURGERY

General JJ Singh (Retd) and his wife, artist Anupama Singh, chose an unconventional path when they were advised knee replacement surgery

- Neha Sharma

It was a regular day at senior orthopedic surgeon Dr Rajeev Sharma's OPD in Delhi's Moolchand Hospital. A senior citizen couple walked in. The issue, knee pain, wasn't uncommon at their age, he being 80 and she in her mid 70s. The solution, knee replacement, wasn't either. What was unusual was the couple's decision to undergo the procedure together, taking the surgeon by surprise.

Surprise would eventually give way to awe when he'd learn the identity of the couple just two days before their operation - Indian Army's first Sikh chief General Joginder Jaswant Singh (Retd) and his wife, artist Anupama Singh.

General JJ Singh, as he's commonly known, has commanded troops in the most volatile zones, led the Indian army from 2005 to 2007, and later served as the governor of Arunachal Pradesh for five years.

Dr. Sharma, who has operated on countless knees but never got such a request, recalls being momentarily speechless. "I've never seen something like this," he says, laughing. "At first, I didn't even know he was a former Army Chief. They came to the OPD like regular patients-humble, unassuming. I found out only when my assistant, who was in touch with theirs, mentioned it," he says. "While at the OPD when I suggested that they both needed knee replacement, they said they wanted to get the operation side by side, on the same day."