On 30^th July 2022, the very first Dr. Amrutha Mahalakshmi Endowment Award for Best Cornea Fellow in memory of Late Dr. Amrutha Mahalakshmi was instituted by the CJ Shah Department of Cornea Services on her 33^rd birth anniversary.  The budding ophthalmologist had just completed her fellowship in the CJ Shah Department of Cornea Services when tragedy struck.

The family of Dr. Amrutha magnanimously came forward to name an award in their daughter’s name within the Cornea department.  The small ceremony – held at A. Sivasilam block, JKCN – was compered by Dr. Meena Lakshmipathy, Senior Consultant.  Dr. Amrutha’s parents – Mr. & Mrs. Anandan, Dr. Suryaprakash (Vishnu Eye Clinic), Dr. Murali, and her husband, Mr. Teja were present on the occasion.

Dr. Girish S. Rao, President, Dr. T. S. Surendran, Vice Chairman & Director, Dept. of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Dr. Prema Padmanabhan, Distinguished Senior Consultant, Dr. Rama Rajagopal, Director, Dr. Radhika N., Deputy Director, Dept. of Cornea Services, and all consultants were present to pay homage to their beloved colleague.  Dr. Girish S. Rao presented Mr. and Mrs. Anandan with a bouquet, and Dr Pramod Bhende presented Dr. Amrutha’s husband with a memento.

Dr. Rama Rajagopal introduced the award and recollected Dr. Amrutha’s legacy.  The 6 fellows competing for the award were all excellent and the decision to choose the winner was a tough one, said Dr. Rama.

Dr. Prema Padmanabhan came on stage and thanked the parents for helping to set up the award and praised the performance of all 6 fellows.  Dr. Radhika N., recollected that Dr. Amrutha was soft-spoken and super confident though she was petite and said she was one of best fellows in the department.  Dr. Geetha Iyer, Dr. Niveditha Narayanan, and Dr. Meena Lakshmipathy too spoke fondly of the late fellow and shared their memories of the young ophthalmologist.

Her family shared memories of their beloved daughter and niece.  Dr. R. Surya Prakash, her uncle, shared memories of his niece, remembering her dedication and hard working spirit.  Mr. Teja also thanked everyone for sharing their thoughts of his wife.

Dr. T. S. Surendran and Dr. Girish S. Rao expressed their thanks to the family of the late Dr. Amrutha.

The awards were then distributed.

Dr.Sunita Pandey received the “Dr. Amrutha Mahalakshmi Endowment Award” for the Best Outgoing Fellow from Mr. and Mrs. Anandan, and Dr. Prema Padmanabhan. Dr. Swetha Ravichandran won “The Outstanding Fellow” award presented by Dr. Rama Rajagopal and Dr. Radhika N.

The other candidates received their fellowship completion awards in this ceremony:
Dr. Nimisha Nagpal received her award from Dr. Bhaskar Srinivasan and Dr. Mamta Agarwal.
Dr. Nikhil Navneet received the award from Dr. Geetha Iyer and Dr. Niveditha Narayanan.
Dr. Varsha Bhambhani received the award from Dr. Meena Lakshmipathy and Dr. Shweta S Agarwal.
Dr. Karan Nathani who was on duty at Kolkata, was also to receive this award.

The vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Shweta Agarwal.