Ramanand Kalbag (known as ‘Ram’) was the first Indian-born consultant in neurosurgery when he was appointed to the department of neurosurgery in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1964. Ram, the elder son of Mangesh and Uma Kalbag, was born on 6 March 1926 at his maternal grandparents’ home in Karwar, a town on the Konkan coast of India. He grew up with his parents and younger brother in Hubli on the Deccan Plateau, where his father, a doctor, had set up in medical practice. His father was also in the Army reserve and was called up just before the start of the Second World War. Ram was taken to Bombay to live with his uncle, before rejoining his mother and brother, who also moved to central Bombay. Ram attended schools run by the Jesuits, St Mary’s in Hubli and St Xavier’s in Bombay. From school, Ram studied for a BSc in chemistry and physics, and only on graduation realised that, for financial reasons, his childhood aspiration of starting his own factory was quite unrealistic. After spending a holiday with his father and witnessing the effects of famine in Bengal, Ram decided to study medicine and graduated from his father’s medical school in 1951. Following junior posts in Bombay, Ram’s life changed direction when he became fascinated by the intricacy of the structure and function of the brain and, aware of the lack of local expertise in the treatment of brain tumours, was attracted to surgical neurology. Ram went to London in February 1953 for further surgical training. He worked in various posts in general surgery and casualty. Within months of his arrival in the UK, Ram’s father died suddenly, followed by the deaths of other family members crucial to the running of the family’s pharmaceuticals company, which brought about a dramatic change in fortune. Ram’s hopes of returning to India to set up in practice were dashed as in those days a private income was necessary to survive in the early years. So, Ram stayed in England and completed a full-time fellowship course at the Royal College of Surgeons. He then started training in neurosurgery in Bristol. In 1955, Ram moved to the Midland Centre for Neurosurgery in Smethwick, Birmingham, followed by a spell on the professorial unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, also in Birmingham. At Smethwick, he was influenced by three people – the neurosurgeon Jack Small; the neuropathologist Tony Woolf; and the nurse Doreen Dulson, who became his wife in 1959. In Ram’s words: ‘With a reputation as an excellent surgeon but a bit of a bully, he [Jack Small] somehow took me under his wing. After a few months, he told me he wanted me to stay in England as a consultant and that he would make sure I did. At the time, there was not a single Indian senior registrar let alone consultant in the specialty. …Tony Woolf, a consultant neuropathologist, befriended me from the start. He invited me to his home regularly, and I learnt a lot of basic neuroscience from him; often when he was working late he would tap on my office window, suggesting that we went to the pub opposite the hospital, and “blocked a few neurones” temporarily. The third person and the most important in every aspect of the rest of my life was a student nurse. That nurse, Doreen Dulson, for reasons I have never questioned but have always been grateful for, had faith in me when I had lost it; she gave my life meaning.’ Opportunity arose for a work placement at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and a spell in America was regarded as a very useful addition to any CV, but his neurosurgical trainers were highly critical of the idea. Whilst Ram was wondering what to do, a consultant post was advertised in Newcastle. This offered Ram a way out of his quandary because he felt that the regional neurological centre at the Newcastle General Hospital provided a more comprehensive service to the community than other neurosurgical departments in England. With reassurance that he could always return to Birmingham, Ram was interviewed in March 1964 and took up his post in Newcastle six months later. Ram had a general neurosurgical practice on-call for any and all aspects of neurosurgery, as was the norm at that time. The paediatric department at the General Hospital and helpful paediatricians gave Ram scope to indulge in his other main interest, paediatric neurosurgery, especially children’s brain tumours and hydrocephalus. Ultimately Ram had subspecialty interests in the management of spina bifida, hydrocephalus, paediatric brain tumours, spinal surgery, neurorehabilitation and the evolving field of intracranial pressure monitoring. It is common now for neurosurgeons to have special interests in spinal surgery, intracranial pressure monitoring, shunts or neurorehabilitation, but this was rare in those days. Ram helped to lead British neurosurgery into these wider neurosurgical interests. P S Ramani, senior consultant neuro and spinal surgeon at Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, met Ram in 1968 and he remembers him warmly: ‘He was a gentle soul, soft spoken, but astute and very intelligent, and I was impressed with his extensive knowledge of spinal surgery. At the time, neurosurgeons preferred to restrict themselves to cranial surgery, except for a rare obligatory spinal surgery meant to repair a congenital myelomeningocele. Mr Kalbag was the only one who had evinced interest in spinal surgery and other consultants were relieved and none too hesitant to recommend him to their ailing patients who needed such medical attention. This however resulted in Mr Kalbag’s outpatient department being heavily overcrowded and the waiting list for surgery a mile long.’ During his time in the neurosurgical department at the Newcastle General Hospital Ram and his colleagues were instrumental in lobbying local decision makers and the Government for improvements in surgical training and in the rehabilitation of patients who had suffered head injuries. Ram became associated with the Newcastle upon Tyne Council for the Disabled when it was founded in 1973 (it was renamed Disability North in 1985). Ram remained a trustee and member of the executive committee until he resigned in 2013 because of declining health. Sandra Wheatley, chair of Disability North, said: ‘…our paths continued to cross as he and I worked closely with and supported many of the families in this region who were affected by neural tube defects. Without exception, each of the families valued Ram’s care and [knew] that they were in safe hands and that Ram’s experience, expertise and genuine care of them was of the highest standard.’ It took many years, but Ram was gratified that finally a proper neurological rehabilitation service was established at Hunters Moor Hospital shortly before his retirement. Ram said: ‘I was privileged to work in the NHS during its best years, when consultants weren’t told how they should spend their time at work or how much. It was left to the individual’s conscience. But in April 1991, yet another of those interminable changes in the NHS that every government, whatever its political complexion, likes to introduce, required all consultants to specify in new written contracts exactly how they spent every hour on duty. I retired happy to be free of such shackles on 31st March 1991, to try and make up for the time I should have, but hadn’t, given to Doreen.’ He greatly valued time with Doreen and the children. In spite of working long hours, Ram tried to be home in the evenings to enjoy a meal with his family. If necessary, he returned to work after the children had gone to bed. And, although he was on call every other week, whenever possible Ram and Doreen with Aneel and Anji would drive out into the countryside and have Sunday lunch in country pubs in Chollerford, Bamburgh or Alnmouth. Family holidays were often spent in Wales or Shropshire, and they particularly liked the scenery and beaches in north Wales. Ram’s long retirement allowed him to pursue lifelong interests that he had not had time for before, including philosophy, reading classical literature, politics, overseas travel and the Wranglers Debating Society, the oldest debating society in the North East. Ram was also a member of the Newcastle Philosophy Society and the North East Humanists and regularly attended meetings of both. An avid reader, he enjoyed the works of Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Dickens, plus many books on politics. He also spent lots of time with his eight grandchildren. After their children had grown up, Ram and Doreen travelled extensively to India, the Far East and North America, and enjoyed European holidays by car. They motored all around France as they loved the food and countryside and Ram the wine, and when they could no longer face the long drives, they went on coach tours to France and Turkey. Ram Kalbag died on 20 October 2018. He was 92. P S Ramani sums up his legacy: ‘His spirit lives on in the selfless work he carried out throughout his life and the patients who were given a new lease on life through his skillful hands