The air of conviviality and informal atmosphere at the boardroom of the Kamal Nayan Bajaj Research Centre on the evening of August 24th, 2011 looked more like a friendly get together or the reunion of members of a family after many years, little wonder as it was members of the Lions Club of Central Madras and the Sankara Nethralaya family assembled for a worthy cause.
The occasion was the gifting of the “Pocket CCTV” a State of the Art assistive device to the Low Vision Clinic, Sankara Nethralaya, jointly by the Lion’s club of Central Madras and Ms Viji Dileep daughter of renowned advocate Shri VD Gopal known for his philanthropy to any effort directed towards providing eye care to the needy. G.Sarika, Optometrist and Head of the Low Vision Care Clinic gave a brief and interesting account of the multiple roles that the clinic plays to patients with different needs. Ms Viji Dileep gave a live demo of the device and how as a smart view video magnifier it helped patients with low vision view images 7 times larger than their actual size.
Lion Harinarayanan recalled his feedback to Lion GV Raman back in 2005 on the need for assistive devices at Sankara Nethralaya based on his interactions with Dr Rajasekhar.Chairman Emeritus Dr SS Badrinath recounted that the Low Vision Clinic has been using various devices and improvisations since 1980 which helped patients with low vision in varying degrees and that the Pocket CCTV is perhaps the most advanced of them.
The function ended with profound thanks from the Chairman Emeritus and Dr KS Vasan, Director Administration, Sankara Nethralaya to Ms Viji Dileep and the Lion’s Club of Central Madras for their thoughtful gesture which would go a long way in enhancing the life of people with low vision problems.