Tribute to Our Founder Chancellor
( As published in Ten Years After by Prof. T.K.Parthasarathy) 

Our Founder lives on…

The tenth anniversary of our founder chancellor was on 14th December 2008. We are all here because of him. This institution is because of him. ‘An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man’ said Ralph Waldo Emerson. By writing this tribute in a sense brings him to life in my mind and the vivid memories rush out as I try to thread them into coherence for the people who glimpse these pages. I remember him during his sickness, his health and in the happier times.

He created this great institution and infused hope in so many young souls who walked on its earth. The hope continues to light many more as they join afresh each year. The perpetual lighted lamp at the place he rests in the campus signifies this hope. Hope for the students seeking a better tomorrow through education, through perseverance and through the practice of excellence. Hope for the sick patients who seek to get better and get healed at the hands of the people who work here.

When I first met him what amazed me was his demeanor that reflected so much simplicity and humility. He wore simple attire and seemed to listen more than he spoke; he got up when you entered his room to welcome you with a radiant warm smile. He spoke softly, sensibly and with sincerity. If he said ‘it would be done’, it would be done; there was no necessity of further asking.

As the years went by I also realized that he was very religious. Many religious saints came as patients to the hospital and praised his benevolence to the hilt. I was once driving to the airport and I suddenly glimpsed him as he was praying in front of a very small road-side temple. I was only reminded of my very pious grandmother who would stop by all the temples in my village after her morning dip in the holy Ganges.

One day a tall elderly Kashmiri walked into my room. He was a skilled carpenter whose talent was being nurtured by our founder. He seemed content and happy far from the snowy mountains where he lived. He lived under the grace of our chancellor. Like him I met many more people on whom the shower of his benevolence had let them grow and bring joy in their life. The 6th floor ICU always evokes some difficult memories in my mind. During my early days after I joined Ramachandra, I spent almost 3 weeks living in that ICU looking after my dad. During the same time coincidently our founder was also admitted for almost 10 days and was very sick. I never remember him complaining or getting upset with any of the staff who were looking after him. He quietly slept and followed all the instructions. Despite the sickness, his face was seldom agitated and the calm demeanor always reflected a person who was at peace with himself.

In 1997 we had organized a national conference of the Indian Society of Transplantation and I went to seek his advise about calling an important dignitary for the launch of the ‘Organ Donor Card.’ He thought for a few moments and asked me to invite Mr. Mooopnar – the most non-controversial rising politician of that time who was always punctual for a function and if he said yes, would surely turn up for the function. The function went like a dream and was very successful. Couple of years later we organized another national urology conference. When he heard about the conference we were organizing he called us. At that time he was bed-ridden and was recovering from his hip surgery (if my memory serves me right). His sharp mind never ceased to function and his astuteness came to light when the saw our invitation letter to the chief guest - who happened to be the chief minister of the state at that time. Rather than using the conventional adjectives in front of his name he told us how to address him so that he would consider the invitation more seriously.

The happy moments were when his own or his extended family achieved a milestone. Be it the marriage of his youngest daughter or the signing of the memorandum with Harvard Medical School or when we achieved a new feat for the hospital. I remember that after the first few cadaver transplants we were always in news and at some stage a foreign television network (I think it was BBC) came to interview the hospital authorities. They went to his room first and he directed them to see us. When I later visited him and told him about it he said in all his humility – they are here because of all of you and what you have achieved and not because of me.

He visited to greet me in the operation theatres when I did the first kidney transplant in the hospital in 1995 with bouquet of flowers. After completing the 100th transplant; I was walking through the A6 theatre corridor and was thinking about the 1st transplant that we had done not too long ago and just then I saw him in a wheelchair for his brief admission to the ICU (to get his ascites tapped). He saw me and gave a weak smile. I realized that this was no ordinary moment and not just a sheer coincidence. He was perhaps there to bless us all even in his sickness on this significant day. His blessings continue to make this institution what it is today. Writing a eulogy is a way of saying farewell to someone; however for many of us who were fortunate enough to have experienced him he continues to dwell in our memory and his blessings continue to make us what we are today.

By – Sunil Shroff