Matters Of The Heart

DR. HARESH MEHTA’S 20-YEAR RUN AS A PROMINENT CARDIOLOGIST HAS KEPT THOUSANDS OF HEARTS PUMPING. HE TELLS TINA THAKRAR HOW DEALING WITH THE HEART TAKES COMPASSION, RESILIENCE, AND A WHOLE LOT OF SPIRIT

- Tina Thakrar

When young Sindhis choose their career paths, it often depends on the advice of their parents and grandparents. Many a time, it’s the family business that becomes their whole and soul, but that’s not to say that an entirely new field of work isn’t encouraged. Mumbai-based Haresh Mehta had his profession chosen for him by his grandfather, who encouraged him to step away from the family business of manufacturing coconut oil and take on the challenging role of a doctor.

Now one of the city’s leading cardiologists, Haresh is an interventional cardiologist practicing at his own setup, Healing Hearts, for almost two decades. Besides this, he regularly consults at Hinduja, Nanavati, BSES, Lilavati, Cumballa Hill, Breach Candy, S.R., and Saifee Hospitals, treating patients with all and any heart conditions. He is also visiting faculty at the University Hospital in Bern, Switzerland, and Fellow, Department of Coronary and Peripheral interventions at Lennox Hill Hospital, New York, USA - both of which were training playgrounds for him as a young medical student.

Originally from Karachi, the Mehtas form part of a small subsection of Sindhis hailing from Balochistan in the NorthWest Frontier. Their last name has transitioned from Mahta to Mehta over many years. In the mid-1900s, Haresh’s family moved to independent India and settled in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park area, where he still lives with his wife and twin daughters.