In keeping with its policy of keeping staff members well informed and abreast, the Sankara Nethralaya management had organized for a healthy diversion from their daily work with an interesting interlude providing plenty of food for thought by way of a lively talk on ‘Sri Padmanabaswamy Temple’ and its association with the Travancore Royal family by Dr S.Krishnan who had served as chief anesthetist at Sankara Nethralaya years ago. The function started with a soulful rendition appeasing Lord Padmanabha by Dr S.Meenkshi, Director, Academics followed by an introduction of Dr S.Krishnan by Dr T.S.Surendran, Vice-Chairman and honouring him by Dr S.S Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus
The speaker of the evening Dr S.Krishnan paid rich tributes to the ‘Temple of the eye’ to which he belonged before he began his speech on the temple, he expressed his pleasant surprise on seeing many old faces happily serving Sankara Nethralaya at all levels. He observed that Sankara Nethralaya is not only a place where one acquires knowledge and gets trained in his/her area of specialization but a place where one imbibes enduring values of service, ethics and sacrifice which make them stand apart wherever they serve, he expressed that the glorious light lit by Dr S.S. Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya would continue to guide generations to come.
Dr Krishnan made it abundantly clear that he did not wish to take sides or pass a judgment on the conflicting claims being made over the fabulous wealth of the temple; instead he chose to take the audience through a journey of the temple from its birth sometime in the 8th century to its present. He touched upon interesting snippets like how the kings of the Varma dynasty ruled their kingdom as Padmanabha Dasas or servants of the Lord, their munificence to the temple etc and the little known side of Sir Thomas Monroe with regard to his respect for Hinduism and local values.
The interest aroused by the talk was evident in the active Q&A session which followed. The program ended with a Vote of thanks by Dr V.Jagadish, Director, Department of Anesthesiology, Sankara Nethralaya.