It was a unique evening at the Sri VD Swami Auditorium on Friday the 25th of November; a day of stepping into the next level of academic pursuit for students of two different streams. The jubilant Dhingra Trust awardees accompanied by their proud parents stepping into the world of higher education and students of Optometry from the Twintech University, Malaysia completing their 4 month Internship. Mrs. Akila Ganesan, General Manager, Sankara Nethralaya warmly welcomed the gathering and thanked the Chief Guest His Excellency Mr. Anuar Bin Kasman Consulate General of Malaysia for Southern India and his esteemed colleagues from the Malaysian Consulate Mr. Nazrul Izwan Ismail – Consular for Immigration, Mr. Kunaseelan – Consular for Labour Attaché, Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus and Shri PR. Ravindran, Chief General Manager, Sankara Nethralaya for gracing the occasion. She expressed her sincere thanks on behalf of Sankara Nethralaya to the Ram Dhingra family for their generous grant towards higher education of children of Sankara Nethralaya employees and for including the scope of beneficiaries to include students of Arts from this year. Mrs. Ganesan observed that 2011was a momentous year for the Twintech University and Sankara Nethralaya as what started as a an experimental effort in terms of sending students to Sankara Nethralaya to enhance their knowledge in various fields of Optometry had been formalized through an MoU between the two institutions, under which students pursuing Optometry at Twintech would spend a period of 4 months on an internship program at the Sankara Nethralaya. She closed her address with the best wishes and a bright future on behalf of Sankara Nethralaya to the Dhingra Trust awardees and the Malaysian students completing their internship.
Mrs. Reena Eapen DGM HR announced the names of this year’s beneficiaries of the Dhingra Trust scholarships with their marks scored and details of the institution where they have secured admission, to a thunderous applause from the audience with beaming parents looking on proudly. The names of the students who have successfully completed their internship was read out by TSNA faculty member Kalpa, what followed was a splash of colour and ethnic chic with Malaysian women students in gorgeous conjeevarams with colorful mehendi and a thoughtful strand of jasmine to complement their south Indian look and boys in their majestic sherwanis tip-toeing cautiously to receive their internship completion certificates from the dignitaries on the dais. Needless to say it was a day for posterity and cameras were clicking away capturing the golden moment.
Passing out students Ha and Yo speaking on behalf of the boys and girls expressed their whole hearted thanks to Sankara Nethralaya, describing the 4 months of internship as the best part of their 4 year course. They had a word of praise for the heads of the Glaucoma, Cornea, Computer Vision Clinic, Orthoptics and Contact Lens departments for their detailed and thorough imparting of knowledge and skills and added that the weekly classes in addition to the department-wise Continuing Medical Education programmes, and case presentations has helped them gain a high level of proficiency in the subject. In keeping with the saying ‘All work and no play make Tom a dull boy’ the students seemed to have had their share of fun and entertainment which is after all a part of campus life, with trips organized by the TSNA to Kodaikanal and Mahabalipuram. They recalled that the trip to India would ever be green in their memory both for the knowledge gained and the warm hospitality of everyone they interacted at Sankara Nethralaya. The exciting recollection of the roller coaster experience of traveling in Chennai’s very own three wheeled devils the autos and the wonderfully choreographed Tamil film song presented by the Malaysian students was a clear testimony of the impact that Chennai has had on them.
Shri Mahalingam, Academic Officer, TSNA proposed the Vote of Thanks with a special mention about the Consul General of Malaysia who had made his presence in the middle of his busy schedule to make the evening so special for the students from his country. The function concluded with proud Dhingra Trust awardees with their parents and the passing out Malaysian Interns freezing the memorable moment on film with Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya