Kolkata monk on morning walk dies at lake

By: Tirtha Sen
KOLKATA: A 62-year-old monk was found dead on the Rabindra Sarobar premises on Saturday morning. Swami Chaitanyananda —the director of the Eastern Zone of Chinmaya Yuva Kendras who headed its Kolkata mission — had gone to the Lake for his morning walk where passersby found him collapsed near the Lily Pool around 7.50am.

He was taken to MR Bangur Hospital where he was declared brought dead 40 minutes later. However, it was only after the mission began looking for him and the police started collecting details about the victim that his identity was established.
“No foul play has been found in the initial stage of post-mortem. His body carried no external injuries,” said DC (southeast) Kalyan Mukherjee.
Senior mission officials and his disciples said Chaitanyananda had been suffering from fluctuating blood pressure since last year. “He was on medication, but was otherwise doing well till Saturday. He used to go for walks at the Lake whenever he was in Kolkata and there was no change in his routine on Saturday. It was only when he did not return till noon that we panicked and began looking for him,” said a mission official.
“When people at the centre reached the spot, they were told to contact the Lake police,” said another official. “We were sure the person was a local. But since he was not carrying a cellphone, contacting his acquaintances was impossible,” said an officer.
Regulars at the Lake said they noticed him exercising when he suddenly fell. “The security guard rushed to him but Chaitanyananda did not respond. The guard then informed cops,” recalled Sarita Jain, a regular who remembered seeing the victim at the Lake.
Health experts said the monk dropping dead during morning walk or exercise could have been a fast manifestation of a heart attack or a case of sudden cardiac death. Because monks lead a more disciplined life, they tend to have good a heart rate, lower anxiety and lesser risk of cardiac ailment. But not all are free from the risks. “Stress hormones are high in the morning. Therefore, sudden physical activity after sleep could make the heart rate shoot up in some individuals. It is important to look out for early warning signs,” said Dr Sunip Banerjee of SGCARDIAC Care.
Doctors felt that the monk could have had some underlying conditions that had not been addressed and stressed on keeping regular tabs on cholesterol, sugar and blood pressure after a certain age.