The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand – quoting Vince Lombardi, Dr Drishti Parekh, the day’s compeer welcomed the gathering assembled to felicitate Dr. Mohan Rajan, Chairman, Rajan Eye Hospital and an old student and friend and well wisher of Sankara Nethralaya, on his being conferred the highly prestigious “Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons” at the Sri V D Swami Auditorium on 13^th May 2015.

Following the mellifluous rendition of the invocation by Dr S R Bharathi Devi, Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of Bio Chemistry, Dr R. Srikanth, Associate Consultant at the Pediatric Department rendered the welcome address highlighting that the honouring of Dr.Mohan Rajan was truly a moment of great joy and pride for one and all at Sankara Nethralaya.

Dr Pramod Bhende, Deputy Director, Vitreo Retinal Services, introduced Dr Mohan Rajan as a man of many achievements to his credit. He described Dr. Mohan Rajan as a proud Alumnus of Sankara Nethralaya, and the person who heads the Rajan Eye Care Hospital as its Chairman and Managing Director. He lauded that the recipient being honoured for his great achievement has held distinguished positions at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, European Society of Cataract & Refractive surgeons. He pointed that Dr Mohan Rajan has served as the Examiner for Diplomate in National Board and as adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology at The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University and has over 450 papers published to his credit and won several accolades including the prestigious Capt Subramanium Gold Medal for the video “Evolution of Cataract Surgery”, Paul Harris Fellow Award, Sundareswarar Endowment Lecture Award, Centenarian Seva Ratna Trust Award and Young Achievers Award to name a few. Dr Pramod Bhende highlighted that as a warm and kind hearted person Dr Mohan Rajan had a special inclination for Community ophthalmology services. The Fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons was truly a proud feather to his cap, he concluded.

Felicitating Dr Mohan Rajan for his glorious achievement, Dr SS Badrinath said, Dr Mohan Rajan held Sankara Nethralaya close to his heart and conveyed his sincere thanks for his sincere fund raising efforts.

Introducing Dr K Jagadeesan, Chairman, K J Hospital Research & Post Graduate Centre, Dr P S Srimathi, Retd Prof, HOD – Pediatric Cardio Thoracic Surgery, Institute of Child Health and hospital for children and currently at K J Hospitals, said Dr Jagadeesan was a man of many firsts. He had to his credit of being a premier in concept of corporate hospitals in India and recipient of Dr BC Roy National Award in recognition of best services in the field of Medical organizations and Institutions, Life time Achievement Awards in recognition of his pioneering services. He held the prestigious position of being Honorary Overseas Advisor to Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, UK since 1990. Dr K. Jagadeesan had been in the forefront in creating a personalized vaccine, a crucial tool in helping patients by injecting a vaccine of their own tumor, a new approach to cancer treatment.

In his address, Dr Jagadeesan, traced the genesis of Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons founded by Dr Peter Lowe after receiving a Royal Charter from King James VI in 1599. He had a high word of praise for Dr SS Badrinath, a visionary in ophthalmology and how he felt impressed to recommend Dr Mohan Rajan’s outstanding candidature for the FRCS.

Introducing the Chief Guest of the Day, Dr Iraianbu IAS, Prinicipal Secretary/ Commissioner, Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Tamilnadu, Dr T S Surendran, Vice Chairman, remarked in a lighter vein that all of us strived hard for both இரை – prey, daily food and இறை – divine அன்பு – affection, bliss. He was an icon of simplicity and versatility. His oration on management and living and writings inspired many youngsters, he said.

In his address, the Chief Guest Dr. Iraianbu started by inquiring “Why do we honour a person already honoured”, to which he laid a simple logic saying “honouring a man already honoured makes one feel honoured, elated and rejoiced”. He added that Dr Mohan Rajan fully deserved the glorious fellowship conferred on him for the sheer dint of hard work and perseverance to have a set a remarkable record of 80,000 cataract, 6000 glaucoma, 10,000 Vitreo Retinal and 5,000 penetrating keroplasty surgeries to his credit. He went on to add interesting aspects of human eye that contributed to 80% of information receipts and the importance of eye brows that served as a protection to the eyes and played an important role in non-verbal communication. Dr. Iraianbu added that the development of LASIK enhanced tuning of the eyes to focus far off ships during warfare and how the dilated pupil of models made advertisements impressive.

Dr Iraianbu stated he was impressed that India, particularly hospitals in the South, such as Sankara Nethralaya contributed to Medical Tourism by serving people all over the globe and through the length and breadth of the country.

In his acceptance speech, a visibly emotional Dr Mohan Rajan, quoting former President Abdul Kalam “to traverse the road less travelled”, said, for the Alumni of Sankara Nethralaya, the “path to travel” had already been clearly laid by their Guru Dr SS Badrinath. He went on to add that by dedication of the alma mater, the institution had grown par excellence. The ethical standards maintained by Sankara Nethralaya were to be emulated by one and all, for excelling in the field of Ophthalmology. He remarked that Dr SS Badrinath had brought in classism to Ophthalmology and history would chronicle the field as “before” and “after” Dr Badrinath.

Dr Mohan Rajan emphasised the contribution from philanthropists was the need of the hour for colossal projects of Sankara Nethralaya both at Chennai and Kolkata, to serve the society.

The grand evening concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr Shikha Rajesh Bassi, Deputy Director, Neuro Ophthalmology Department.