November 2017

Team from Elite School of Optometry emerge victorious in a high power knowledge and subject matter mastery evaluation

“Ask questions to find out something about the world itself, not to find out whether or not someone knows it” – says John Holt

In the Optometry world, ESO is known for its legacy and leadership. It was time again on the 19th November, 2017 to prove ESO’s quality and competence when the ESO’s Quiz team comprising four Optometry Interns, Mr Jude Remedios Menezes, Ms Mehal Prasan Rathore, Ms Vidhyasri, and         Ms Gowsalya witnessed glorious victory during the Ahalia’s CME program (ACME III) conducted at Palakkad, Kerala.  With participation from 22 Optometry colleges across the country, and 900+ audiences, ACME III had series of guest lectures by eminent Optometry clinicians and researchers. Not to everyone’s surprise, all the speakers were alumni of ESO, currently holding key positions in various institutions across India.

The quiz had preliminary round short listing 7 teams from 30 teams, and ESO made it to the finals by going through the tough prelims. In the Preliminaries, each team was challenged with 3 questions each against the timer of one minute. ESO got into finals despite some nerve-racking moments.

In the Grand Finale of the Quiz, ESO demonstrated a cool and composed lead, and displayed their fine academic spirit. The rounds of Optics, Anatomy, and Ocular Diseases and Clinical examination, being the Quiz master’s favourite hats, ESO emerged victorious taking the first place after four intense rounds. ESO’s team was followed by two teams from Vasan Institute of Optometry, Chennai. The audience and delegates were all in praise for ESO and the team.

The ESO and SN family takes pride in congratulating the students for standing up to ESO’s legacy and wishing them great success in all future endeavours!

Three cheers to ESO!

Pontiff of Sri Raghavendra Swamy Matha showers his blessings on Sankara Nethralaya, for demonstrating the Saint’s teachings through cost free eye care dispensed at his abode

The Mobile Eye Surgical team’s dedicated and compassionate service at the holy abode of Swamy Raghavendra wins the blessings of  His Holiness Sri Subudhendra Teertha Swami Galu the Peetadhipathi of Sri Raghavendra Swami Matha, Mantralayam on the entire Sankara Nethralaya family.

Please click here to view the rare honour

The Sankara Nethralaya family bids a most befitting and emotional farewell to one of its stalwarts!

The evening of Saturday the 4th of November 2017 is sure to go down in Sankara Nethralaya’s collective memory as one of its most poignant moments, the institution was bidding farewell to one of its oldest ‘warriors’ against blindness and members of the Sankara Nethralaya family from across disciplines and levels had gathered in good numbers to pay their tribute and bid goodbye to its 7th oldest employee, a man who personified dedication, sincerity and humility in his 33 years of glorious service.

It was a fascinating journey down the times as speaker after speaker shared their experiences with him, their recollections bringing out the innovator, scientist, teacher, team player and the warm and humble human being that Dr Ian Sundararajan, fondly referred to as ISR was perceived by them. Program presenter Dr Sonali Raman, Senior Consultant, department of anaesthesiology gave the proceedings a vibrant start with her exuberant observation that the period that Dr ISR was associated with Sankara Nethralaya could be called the golden era of anaesthesiology, she captured the involvement and spirit of the man who had made Sankara Nethralaya his first home for 33 long years with a most touching couplet.

Speaking on the occasion senior Consultant and Medical Director Dr Girish Shiva Rao observed that Dr ISR left an indelible mark on whatever he did, with his innovations and resourcefulness, which were nothing short of sensational. Saluting his sterling role, he expressed that Dr ISR was among the few men who left a deep impression on him through his abundant knowledge. Lauding Dr ISR as a hallmark of hard work, he expressed the collective gratitude of all the Surgeons at Sankara Nethralaya who owed their success to his expertise and co-operation. Dr TS.Surendran, Vice-Chairman and Director of Pediatric ophthalmology began his talk with a note that it would be impossible to capture all of what he called the ‘Treasures’ of his association with Dr ISR and that he would recall just a few of them. He described the veteran anaesthesiologist as a man who was constantly reviewing the operation theatre to explore scope for changes, enhancements that could make it a safer and easier procedure for the surgeon and his patient. He recalled the matchless dedication exhibited by Dr ISR during the brief strike by the support staff, when he would personally shift the patients to the anaesthesiology room and back to the OT after being anaesthetised, which ensured that all the 13 surgeries scheduled for him could be performed without a hitch. Beaming with a sense of pride and attachment Dr Lingam Gopal, Senior Consultant at the Vitreo Retina department started his note with an observation that he had the privilege of having the longest association with Dr ISR, he described him as a genial genius who made jaws drop with his innovation, a never say die workaholic who accepted sudden additions to his long patient list for the day with admirable readiness and smile. Dr Lingam Gopal expressed the collective tribute of the surgeons of the Vitreo retina department to the amazing anaesthetist who made their surgeries a great success and his gratitude to a great man who made every one strive for excellence by setting a great personal example.  If Dr ISR was recalled as an amazing anaesthetist, a permanent feature in the operation theatre while the surgeons took their turn, a man of incredible energy levels and confidence who never shied of taking challenging cases in his stride, by Senior Consultants Dr L.Vijaya and Dr Nirmala Subramanian, he was recalled as a calming influence, giving the others in the OT a sense of calmness by his composure and reassuring presence, by Dr Vineet Rathra.  While the OT assistants and maintenance staff hailed him as a warm, simple and patient man who never once lost his temper or been rude to them, the head of patient counselling and education Shri Irungovel highlighted a little known facet of his personality, his ‘poetic skills’. Dr ISR’s daughter, son-in-law and grand children brought out the caring, loving persona in him while Dr Bhanulakshmi from New Zealand wondered aloud if someone could even think of Sankara Nethralaya without Dr ISR and vice versa??

Delivering his acceptance speech a visibly moved Dr ISR started on a highly emotive note that he would serve in Sankara Nethralaya if he were to be born again, he expressed his sincere thanks to Dr SS.Badrinath whom he described as the moving force behind starting and developing ophthalmic anaesthesia as a specialty in India, when it was still unheard of in most eye care centres. He expressed his happiness on the decision to resign from government service and join Sankara Nethralaya that he had taken years ago, as he would have gone unnoticed if he had not done so.

While every speaker of the evening had expressed his/her good wishes for a restful, peaceful and healthy retired life to the veteran who was calling it a day, the observations of the person whom they were bidding farewell seemed to reveal a different agenda, he started off on a couple of strong observations ‘We should develop paediatric anaesthesia as a specialty’, ‘We should share the experience, expertise and knowledge gained by our long years in the practice of ophthalmic anaesthesia and the treatment of a large number of cases,’  ‘Our learning and experience should not go in vain and we should share it with the world by publishing a book’. These were typical Dr ISR observations to those who knew him well, the word ‘We’ in every objective he underlined making the assembled gathering wonder if the irrepressible teacher and anaesthetist was just about to begin another glorious innings for his cherished institution!!