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A blinding ray of hope
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The couple is on a mutually gratifying pursuit to drive away darkness and fill lives with sunshine, discovers G. RAVIKIRAN
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PHOTO: RAJU. V.
IN SYNC Removing darkness with brightness is their dream
It is a nobler gesture to rehabilitate totally blind persons rather than devoting all time to vision correction, says noted ophthalmologist M.N. Raju who pledges support to his better half Indira's plans to do service to the needy.
Dr. M.N. Raju's life is an impressive story of an individual's indefatigable work and an ophthalmologist's accomplishments. His service in the realm of blindness control found an ardent cheerleader at home, restored vision to hundreds and removed gloom from thousands of lives. All this would not have been possible but for the constant support and encouragement from his wife Indira, a housewife wedded to values, service and humaneness.
Digging into the delicious chicken wing in the cool environs of Aroma in Hotel D.V. Manor, Dr. Raju credits all that he has achieved to Indira's foresight and courage. Right from the days of PG in Guntur Medical College, he actively conducted surgeries with her support.
His teacher Prof. Vengala Rao made him in-charge of the eye camps. Even as a PG student, he conducted 250 to 300 surgeries per month. "That experience has helped me a lot.
All these years I have been working for 10 to 12 hours a day. I can do 14 cataract surgeries per hour without feeling any stress. It is all because of the support I get from my wife and my qualified staff," he says. His clinic Sandhya Hi-tech Vision Care Centre on Kaleswararao Road in Suryaraopet has been given ISO 9001:2000 certification.
Pat from right quarters
Speaking about the recognition to his work which came his way over a year ago, at the inaugural function of another clinic Super Sight Laser Centre here, he happily shares how the then Governor of Andhra Pradesh Sushil Kumar Shinde complimented him for conducting nearly 70,000 vision-related operations.
To achieve this, he had to make sacrifices on the family front. Recently, his daughters Sandhya and Deepthi, and son Bhargav expressed a desire to visit Nagarjuna Sagar.
The never-failing doctor that he was - Dr. Raju got an eleventh-hour call and stayed back while the mother readilyled the rest of the family to the picnic spot. Her support boosted his morale to shift family from the far-flung Cherukupalli in Guntur district to Vijayawada in the interest of children's education.
Her courage also motivated him to open his own clinic near Komala Vilas Centre in One Town. Upon insistence by her, he stopped taking money from those who treated at home.
Divine tilt
Their elder daughter Sandhya is married and well settled. She works as a web designer for the US navy. Younger daughter Deepthi and son Bhargav are studying engineering.
A deeply religious person, Indira visited Badrinath, Kedaranth and Haridwar, but the trip to Amarnath was the most exciting. She went on her own along with friends while Dr. Raju had to stay put in Delhi to attend a conference.
The family has visited Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and China and is highly impressed by the punctuality and hard work of the people there.
Dr. Raju has always taken the lead in use of advanced technology. He has all facilities in place to attend calls from the Swetch Gora Eye Bank for transplanting eyes of registered donors upon their death.
He has four trained ophthalmic assistants to respond to phone calls round-the-clock. "We have never failed a single call in the last two years," he says with pride.
The couple has a dream to run a rehabilitation centre for the totally blind persons, who need training to manage their day-to-day chores without depending on others. Such a centre is available only at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad.
With help of an NRI friend they procured a Braille computer and donated it to blind children at Vijaya Mary rehabilitation centre here.
"During one of our routine visits, we discovered the children's interest in a computer. We have the satisfaction of making them happy and want to develop a permanent rehabilitation center," says Indira unveiling future plans for those suffering from blindness and related disorders.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Pondicherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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