With rare vision

IN TODAY'S chaotic and disorganised development in the cramped cities that we live in, it is a sad fact that the quality of life is deteriorating all around us. The exponential rise in population added to various infrastructural deficiencies has contributed to this. The evolution of Chennai over the last two decades has seen the city growing beyond the traditional Parrys- Purasaiwalkam-Mylapore-T.Nagar areas to the Adyar-Annanagar-Porur belts. Obviously, these areas have now become so congested that, even here, infrastructure like water and electricity is close to breaking point.

Therefore, people are being forced to settle down in fringe areas like Chromepet, Tambaram et. al., which are reasonably connected to the city (downtown) by buses and trains. One might think that the comparatively low-profile zones like Madipakkam, Nanganallur and Pallavaram house people who ply the thoroughfares with downcast and sullen faces, as they return to their homes after work everyday. One could not be more wrong! Here is an inspiring example of a community in Pammal, on the outskirts of Pallavaram. Starting as a housing colony in the late 70s, Sri Sankara Nagar, as it is now called, serves as a model for smilar communities coming up in the peripheral areas.

Earlier, Appasamy Real Estates were responsible for the development of Sri Sankara Nagar, Pammal. In those days, one ground in Pammal used to cost around Rs. 10,000, and the promoter, like others, had to provide for a school, hospital, park etc., for obtaining governmental approval for the layout. And thus began Sri Sankara Nagar's epic journey.

Several like-minded senior citizens who occupied homes in the locality, got together to chart out its progress. Their altruism has served to improve their quality of life for themselves and, more importantly for the next generation.

Sri Sankara Nagar, Pammal, today boasts of three schools - kindergarden, primary and higher secondary, all administered by the Sankara Trust set up by the early settlers. The Sankara Schools educate 1,800 children of the area and last year, they accomplished 100 per cent results in the tenth and twelfth standard Board Examinations. Their achievement is fantastic considering that there is no "screening" process to take only bright children and, in fact, under-privileged kids who receive free education and books, number five per cent of the total. The Sankara Trust also runs three hospitals in the area - a ten bed terminal care centre which eases the pain of patients staring death in the face, a free dispensary for the poor and a massive 80-bed eye hospital.

The eye hospital is the apple of the eye for Pammal and has progressed by leaps and bounds. From very humble beginnings, Sankara Eye Hospital serves the needs of people not only in Pammal, but has covered the majority of villages in Chinglepet! In the last five years, the hospital has performed 5,000 free cataract surgeries!

The medicare and the education facilities have all been put up over the years from donations received from philanthropic institutions and individuals.

V. Lakshmanan, Treasurer of Sankara Eye Hospital, points out to the fact that each year, four million people in the country suffer from cataract. The statistics are even more numbing - one- fifth of the world's blind are in India. As many as 45 million Indians, most of them below the poverty line are visually impaired.

S. Viswanathan, Secretary of the hospital, explained their efforts. Every Sunday, their van goes to a village and experts explain to the people about the free cataract surgeries. By the afternoon, Babu, the P.R.O. of the hospital would have succeeded in filling the 30-seater van and the vehicle reaches the Hospital before dusk. The patients would be fed and housed in a spacious ward.

Within three days, all of them would be operated on, supplied free dark glasses and dropped back at their village. After two weeks, it is their responsibility to come back to the hospital to be issued free spectacles, if necessary! When the happy patients return, they invariably bring some gifts for the hospital in the form of rice, vegetables or fruit!

Last year, Sankara Eye Hospital screened over two lakh children in Corporation Schools in Chennai and distributed 2,500 free spectacles to those who were visually impaired. The hospital's chief of surgery, Dr. M. Frietschi (of Australian descent) personally performs more than 20 surgeries a day! Sankara Eye Hospital's telephone numbers are 2403799 and 2404799.

M. SRINATH NARAYAN

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