Dr. P. Namperumalsamy: A Vision for Vision
Allen Worwood profiles Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care Systems, Madurai, who has recently been cited by TIME magazine as among the top 100 most influential people in the world.
Dr. P. Namperumalsamy
The most fascinating aspect of human journeys is the exultant heights that one can reach, and the belief that anything is achievable.
That is why it was truly a delight as a writer and as a person, to meet Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, the current chairman of Aravind Eye Care Systems, Madurai. His particular tale is not about individual success, but is about the deeds that he has done through Aravind, and the good he does everyday.
Small Beginnings
Dr. P. Namperumalsamy (popularly known as Dr. Nam) is certainly from humble beginnings.
"I am from a small village with only 1000 people... my parents were farmers." Dr Nam's father had a basic education, while his mother never went to school. This is why his father was determined to ensure his children had the opportunities that they didn't have. In order to get their children to school, Dr. Nam's parents had to take out loans, constantly borrowing money, and Dr. Nam himself had to get scholarships from the government in order to go to Medical School. Up until the age of sixteen, Nam and his three sisters had to walk three miles to school and back everyday, "We couldn't afford bicycles."
A Passion Ignited
Medicine wasn't Dr Nam's first choice. "At first I was inclined to be an engineer. I did mathematics at school because I was good," but after listening to one of his father's friends (who was an engineer) Nam was convinced to go to medical school instead, which was what his dad wanted him to do. It was only after Nam started Medical School that he became genuinely interested in medicine, and once that love was ignited, he never looked back.
"My first intention was to get out of Medical school as early as possible so I could earn money to support my parents." And Dr. Nam would have probably done exactly that if it wasn't for Dr. G. Venkataswamy, (known as Dr. V) who was Nam's teacher throughout Medical School. Venkataswamy's youngest sister Dr. G. Natchiar was also at the Medical School, and she was in the same class as Namperumalsamy.
A Pivotal Moment
"He wanted me and his youngest sister to get married, and that changed my entire career." Getting married to Venkataswamy's sister was a pivotal moment for Nam, as through his bonding with Dr V, Nam's career really began to take shape.
Through Dr. Venkataswamy, Nam became involved in Ophthalmology, and he was soon intrigued by the various subspecialties within Ophthalmology while studying at Madras University.
A Challenge All the Way
"It was a challenge from the beginning." Back when Dr. Nam started Ophthalmology, there were a multitude of difficulties, as the services for eye problems were extremely basic in India and had only just started to develop. Dr. Nam had met several experts from the West while at Madras University, and they inspired him to study abroad, specifically in the U.S.
"I wanted to go forward in ophthalmology." Through all of the contacts he had made Dr. Nam was eventually given the chance to study at Boston University, a prestigious institution in America. It was in Boston that Dr. Nam specialised in the retina and the vitreous, and everything that he absorbed he took back to India, where Dr. G. Venkataswamy, started Aravind Eye Hospital (AEH) in 1976.
It is obvious that Dr. G. Venkataswamy has been a significant influence on Dr. Namperumalsamy, as they have known each other for over 40 years, and throughout that time Venkataswamy has been Nam's teacher, brother in law, colleague, and most significantly, his friend. In Nam's own words, "He emits qualities without even teaching them."
A Meteoric Rise
When AEH was first formed in 1976, Dr. Namperumalsamy was Professor of Ophthalmology and Chief Medical Officer until 1997, when he became the Director of Ophthalmology until 2005, and finally, he reached the very summit by becoming the Chairman of Aravind Eye Care Systems (AECS) itself, a post he still holds today. During almost thirty-four years, AECS has helped over 2 million Indians with their sight, and every single one of those people has had their surgery for free.
Allen Worwood and Catherine Gerst speak with Dr. P. Namperumalsamy
Accolades All the Way
This is because of the unique system that has been in place in AECS since its origin. The idea is that the wealthier people will pay a much higher price for eye treatment because they can afford to, while anyone that doesn't have the money are simply asked to pay what they can. This means that AECS has been able to help millions of people, who without AECS would eventually go blind. This is one the most colossal acts of good that humans can carry out, and Aravind has rightly been awarded many humanitarian awards for its prodigious efforts, most recently the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize for 2010, a globally renowned prize for monumental acts of humanity.
Aravind Philosophy
According to Dr Nam the main difficulty that AECS had to overcome was human resources. The most trying task is to find people who are like minded like himself, people who are motivated not only to study, but to help the community. So that is why as well as teaching the post-graduates ophthalmology, Dr. Nam also teaches them the Aravind philosophy, which he has inherited from Dr. G. Venkataswamy.
"Dr. V always worked for the community, not just for the money. It was always about the people." For Dr. Nam, the paramedics are just as important as the doctors, if not even more invaluable.
"The paramedics help the doctors - that is the key to the success of our institution." There are four paramedics for each doctor, and having them present increases productivity substantially, resulting in almost 300,000 operations being carried out each month.
Institution; not the Person
Dr. Namperumalsamy has been individually acknowledged for his contribution to eye care, being given the Padmashree Award by the Indian Government in 2007, the Lifetime Achievement Award by the All India Ophthalmological Society, and being named in TIME Magazine's top one hundred most influential people of the century.
"It is not about me. The institution is more important than the individual". Dr. Nam is not absorbed with singular glorification, rather, it is Aravind, and the service it gives to the visually challenged that is paramount in his thoughts. Nam maybe proud of what Aravind have achieved so far, but what really matters is that they continue to cure the visually impaired, as the battle against eye related illness is one of the biggest problems India faces.
"We have played a major role treating people affected by cataracts... but there are still other issues." For example, diabetes has an alarmingly high rate in India, and is one of the country's main problems.
"There are many reasons for this, junk food, genetics and lifestyle changes," are all contributing factors. The best way to tackle it in Nam's eyes is if institutions like Aravind do everything in their power to increase awareness of these diseases, and to educate people about problems like glaucoma.
Handing over the Reins
Dr. Namperumalsamy retired not too long ago, as his responsibilities as chairman made it hard for him to carry on doing surgery, a change which he finds "terrible." Even though he may have itchy feet, Dr. Nam believes that the next generation is more than capable of taking the reins.
"The time has come for me to give directions... if you keep doing surgery then the juniors can never develop'. Even though he is incessantly swamped by his duties as chairman, Nam still finds time to talk to patients and teach upcoming doctors every single morning.
Dr. Nam's vision for the future is to take AECS forward once again, as a new Proteomics section has been opened, with the aim of finding parts of DNA that can be susceptible to certain diseases.
Despite all that Dr. Namperumalsamy has achieved: the awards, the milestones, the priceless gift of sight to millions, he is not finished; he is still determined to keep up the toughest of wars, the unrelenting attack against the colossal magnitude that is blindness in India. If deeds could be counted, weighed and measured, then Dr. Namperumalsamy will most likely be the richest man I'll ever meet.