January 2023
Swami Mukunananda on Professional Fulfilment
The spiritual leader, bestselling author, Vedic scholar, and authority on mind management – Swami Mukundanandaji, gave a talk on Professional Fulfilment on 6th December 2022 at the Sri V. D. Swami Auditorium in the main campus. Dr. R. R. Sudhir, Senior Consultant, Department of Cornea Services had the honour of introducing Swami Mukunanandaji to the eager audience.
Swamji had completed his B. Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi (IIT-D), and MBA in Indian Institute of Management – Kolkata. He had a successful career, which he renounced in his search for the divine truth. Dr. T. S. Surendran felicitated Swamiji with a silk shawl; Swamiji then opened his talk with an invocation prayer song. Swamiji stated he was privileged to visit and host a talk at this hallowed institution, which he had heard so much about. He conveyed his respects to the Sankara Nethralaya family.
Swami Mukunanda spoke on the topic of ‘Professional Fulfilment.’ He pointed out that a fulfilling career is as important as a life partner as we spend more time at work than with our spouses. He spoke of the happiness that comes when we find a purpose in our lives and we can align activities to that purpose. Swamji enlightened the gathering to remind oneself about the importance of the work is the key to remaining inspired and closed his talk.
Dr. R. R. Sudhir, Senior Consultant, Department of Cornea Services, and Head of EMR Development and Implementation, for this unique opportunity to listen to the enlightening thoughts of Swami Mukunanada
140th Birthday Celebrations of Mahakavi Subhramania Bharathiyar
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy (TSNA), the academic arm of Sankara Nethralaya, has always been a front runner in conducting numerous co – curricular and extra – curricular activities to motivate the students and to help mold their personality through interactions with influential personalities.
One such initiative is the Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar on 23rd December2022 at (TSNA), The Sankara Nethralaya Academy in the V G Appukutty Campus, Guindy.
Mrs. Girija Raghavan, noted Film and Television Personality, Activist and Editor, ‘Ladies Special’ Magazine addressed the students on the topic of ‘Accham Thavir.”
The event started with an invocation to Lord Ganesha followed by ‘Tamizh Thai Vazhthu’, students of Faculty of Management Studies (FOMS) rendered the famous song of Mahakavi, “Oli Padaitha Kanninai Va Va Va” in which the great poet, exhorted the youth to be brave and fearless. Assistant Professor and Head of Management Studies, Mr. G. Senthilkumar, welcomed the gathering. Mr. A P Irungovel, Sr. Asst. Professor, Medical Sociology, introduced the Chief Guest Mrs. Girija Raghavan, as the woman who broke the glass ceiling in a male dominated media industry. Mrs. Girija Raghavan, praised the students for their discipline and enthusiasm and thanked the organisers at The Sankara Nethralya Academy for giving her an opportunity to share her memorable journey.
Mrs. Girija shared her experiences in the media industry and the struggles she underwent before attaining success. She advised gathered youngsters not to lose heart whatever hurdles come their way and expressed pain at students resorting to extreme methods like suicide to destroy themselves even due to trivial issues like not having a smart phone. She took an assurance from The Sankara Nethralya Academy students that never, ever they will resort to such means, whatever be the circumstances.
The Program ended with students’ interaction with Ms. Girija Raghavan and Dr. Anuja R Singh, Principal, TSNA proposing a Vote of thanks.
29th Sri Maha Periyava Aradhana observed with devotion
Dhingra Trust Awards Distributed were distributed to the meritorious children of Sankara Nethralaya’s employees
On 7th January 2023, the staff and employees of Sankara Nethralaya gathered at the Sri V. D. Swami Auditorium to observe the annual homage to the inspiration behind this institution- the Maha Periyava of Kanchi and seek his blessings.
The programme was compered by Dr. N. Anuradha and was followed by the students of Sri Sankar Alayam, Chetpet singing a Veda Ghosala. Welcoming the audience with their sweet voices, Ms. Priya and Ms. Soundaraya, undergraduate students of the Elite School of Optometry, captured the audience’s hearts with a prayer song.
Dr. Angayarkanni Narayanaswamy, Chief Scientist / Professor, Laboratory Services, introduced the Chief Guest, Prof. Dr. V. Kamakoti, Director, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, who is faculty in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He also received his Ph. D from IIT- M in 1995 and is known for leading his team to build the indigenous SHAKTI microprocessor. Dr. Girish S. Rao, President and Dr. T. S. Surendran, the Chairman, honoured Prof Dr. Kamakoti and invited him to the podium.
More than all these accolades, it is his connection to Sankara Nethralaya through his father, Dr. N. Veezhinathan, which was forged when he was a young child that links him to Sankara Nethralaya. In his discourse, he recollected his memories of Sri Mahaperiyava’s cataract surgery when he was around 4 y.o. The Chief Guest complimented SN saying it was with the sage’s blessings that this institution has achieved the volume of footprints in one day equal to a month’s or a year’s worth of footprints in many other places.
He also complimented the eye hospital for its scale of operations compared to many hospitals in the West. The Chief Guest also lauded the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) for reaching the centennial milestone of the 100th camp.
Dr. V. Kamakoti concluded his speech by wishing Sankara Nethralaya many more years of successfully serving the community. He gave young people in the audience a few pearls of wisdom from Sri Maha Periya, the first was that “simplicity is natural power and luxury is artificial poverty” and the second piece of advice was that working towards achieving one’s goal would automatically bring riches and fame instead of seeking fame and fortune only.
Dr. V. V. Jaichandran, Deputy Director, Department of Anaesthesiology, introduced the SN Health Bytes app to the audience. The app represents the employees of the institution, providing a showcase for their talents. Dr. V. V. Jaichandran described the app as a way of communicating birthdays, achievements, etc in a very easy manner.
Dr. V. Kamakoti inaugurated the app, and a short demo video introducing the app, which was developed in-house, was played.
The Dhingra Trust awards
Sri Ram P Dhingra (California), one of our long-time supporters, helped establish the Dhingra Family Trust in 2004 to provide scholarships for higher education to the children of Sankara Nethralaya’s employees. The merit awards are given each year to benefit academically- inclined children. This year, 12 meritorious students received the awards from the Chief Guest, Dr. V. Kamakoti, much the pride and joy of their parents.
The aarthi was received by the devout at the end of the ceremony.