Family Ties and Artistic Pursuits
Dr. Bhatnagar still lives in the Waterville home he moved into in 1964. He met his wife, Catherine Carol McNulty, in Cleveland in 1957 when she was training as a physical therapist at St. John’s Hospital, and they married in 1961 in Boston. Together they had six children: daughters Sangeeta, Sarita, Sunita, and Tanuja, and sons Nishith and Nishant. McNulty passed peacefully in her sleep from apparent heart failure. Today, Dr. Bhatnagar enjoys spending time with his children, ten grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.
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August 2020
Doing otologic and cosmetic surgery, it was easy to use drills and chisels in bird carving. —Hemendra Bhatnagar, MD
His son-in-law Ron Norton, an economics professor at the University of Maine, recently displayed Dr. Bhatnagar’s work at an exhibit at a local restaurant. Three pieces sold—his first sales—but Dr. Bhatnagar said he isn’t interested in selling more. “This is just my hobby, which gives me satisfaction. I give paintings away to family and friends.” His latest work focuses on portraits, particularly one of a beloved pet dog (belonging to one of his daughters and son-in-law) who recently passed away.
Dr. Bhatnagar is also an accomplished woodworker, creating delicate and lifelike renditions of eagles, blue jays, and other birds perched on logs, as well as sturdy wine racks and rocking chairs. He learned from the late Robert (Bob) Davis, an accomplished woodworker in Corinna, Maine, and the father of Dr. Bhatnagar’s friend and nurse colleague, Miriam Davis. “Doing otologic and cosmetic surgery, it was easy to use drills and chisels in bird carving,” he said. “I did birds while I was still practicing, and after retirement, I did major woodwork under Bob’s direction until his death in 2013.”
Mixing the artistic and the medical is the embodiment of Dr. Bhatnagar’s ideals and appreciation of all that life can offer.
“In our life’s journey, the road is never straight,” he said. “We are thrown many a curve and acute angle. But the quest must go on. For at the end, when all the bits and pieces of our dreams and desires come together and burst into brilliant kaleidoscopic colors and forms, in fulfillment of our aspirations, actions, and accomplishments, we have a chance to say, ‘Thank you, it’s been a great ride.’”
Cheryl Alkon is a freelance medical writer based in Massachusetts.