12. An Eve with the Founders

In 2006, Dr. Venkataswamy passed from this world.  The spirit of his legacy lived on in the other two original founders, Dr. Natchiar and her husband Dr. Nam, .  While I was at Aravind Pondicherry, shortly after Christmas, there were rumors that Dr. Natchiar and the extended family was coming from the head offices in Madurai.  All the sisters were talking excitedly about it, especially the housekeeping sisters.  The name of Madam Natchiar was like royalty.  For days, all departments at the hospital were in full preparation for the visit.  In the guesthouse we saw a flurry of activities, as the housekeeping sisters, electricians, and plumbers came to make sure everything was in shipshape.  There was one special room at the guesthouse.  That special room was decorated with photos of Dr. Venkataswamy & Dr. Natchiar’s parents, and with books that belong to the family heirloom.  That special room was finally unlocked to welcome the honorary founders.  I felt extremely privileged to meet and talk with Dr. Natchiar.  She has the presence and the austerity that could only be earned by being an Aravind founder. 

Dr. Natchiar and author

Dr. Natchiar said it was an honor presenting an MSICS Certificate of Training to a phaco surgeon.  Dr. Natchiar who gave birth to the MSICS training program decades ago, gracing me with kind words, left me speechless.  Finally after I mustered my courage to talk to her, I realized we shared a mutual feeling, regarding ophthalmologists becoming enslaved to evolving technology.  We discussed how, not surprisingly, healthcare has become driven by industry, thus the cost of healthcare delivery in the Western world will continue to rise.  As she told me stories about the founding days, I came to feel the spirit of Aravind even more.  Gradually, everything around me at the guesthouse, and at the Aravind Pondicherry hospital, took on a new meaning.  The sparsely-appointed guesthouse, the reuse of water bottles, the indestructible stainless plates and utensils, the energy conservation in shutting off electrical lights unless absolutely needed, the water reclamation pond on the hospital campus, the limited choice of food served at the hospital cafeteria and at the guesthouse, the strict adherence to “reuse or reduce” in the operating theatres, were all manifestations of a minimalist lifestyle from the founders’ humble beginnings.  Despite the “reuse or reduce” in the operating theatres, Aravind has been able to keep infection rates as low if not lower than Western hospitals.  Suddenly, I felt the full impact of Western world’s wastefulness, where everything is single use, disposable, and thrown away; where surgeons clamor to use the “latest” technology; where children to adults desire the latest gadgets; where holidays lose their intrinsic meaning and give way to heavily marketed merchandise sales events.  The times that I sat down to hear Dr. Natchiar retell history, made me long for a time far away, when doctors were highly respected by people.  It is a feeling that has been preserved within the Aravind System, when I witnessed how the sisters address the surgeons as Sirs and Ma’ams, and how everyone in a room would stand up in respect when Dr. Venkatesh enters.  By that same gesture of utmost respect, Dr. Venkatesh also supervised his team to make sure the guestroom would be perfect for the visiting Aravind family.  Dr. Natchiar and the founding family members of Aravind came to Pondicherry for New Year Eve, to visit the very ashram where Dr. V had attended to honor Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.  At this moment in Western countries, people were scarcely finished with their Christmas shopping, and were preparing for year-end department store sales.  I could just imagine Western children complaining if they didn’t get the present they wished for.  Meanwhile, the children of Aravind were helping to clean tables and dishes when the adults and elders finished their dinner.  After dinner, the children of Aravind played simple games of soccer and hide-and-seek in the courtyard, laughing with happiness while children in the Western world glue their eyes on iPads and game consoles.  Materialism is a vocabulary that did not exist at Aravind.  (Imagine my culture shock when I later departed from India and landed in back Singapore’s Changi airport, the most consumer-oriented airport in the world.)

As 2013 drew to a close on December 31, I thought of the eve of this year, no less than I thought of the eve of an era.  Mankind has evolved, by passing stories from generations to generations, from elders to youngsters.  I still see that in the Aravind family.  Developed countries seem to have lost all that.  It is a sad progress, when we forget our roots, lose filial piety, lose respect for elders.  It is a sad society, when doctors have to be on guard against potential patient lawsuits, when teachers have to fear children who may complain to their parents or the police, when elderly parents are abandoned by their children in nursing homes.  My last thought of 2013 was wistfulness, thinking how precious it is to maintain the good values I still see in the Aravind world.

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