Years with the saving knife

THADAIGAL PALA THAANDI -- Vaazhkai Anubhavangal (Tamil): Dr. B. Ramamurthi; Translation of "Uphill All The Way" in English by Rani Maindan; Achanta Lakshmipathi Neurological Centre, V.H.S. Medical Centre, Tharamani, Chennai-600113. Rs. 150.

IT WOULD be difficult to believe that Dr. B. Ramamurthi, well- known neuro-surgeon, had completed 79 years on January 22 this year if for a strange reason one had imagined that the many lives he had saved with his rare skills would have conferred him an immunity from ageing. This highly readable autobiography which was earlier written in English and has been well-rendered into Tamil gives us an absorbing account of the very rich life he has shared with Dr. Indira after Cupid brought them together in 1944.

A thought which could be quite unnerving to the reader while racing through this book, running to over 560 pages, is about the sheer uncertainty of survival itself in the midst of perils lurking around all the time to rush us to the operating table of Dr. Ramamurthi. Among the several demands which the many cases of head injury which Dr. Ramamurthi and his fellow surgeons had to handle and could successfully cure -- along with the others which he could not -- is the drilling of a hole in the skull to reach parts of the brain some of which are buried deep. "Dexterity" is too inadequate a word for giving an idea of the extraordinary skills and alertness, which neurosurgeons need to steer clear of even the slightest wrong move, which could result in certain death. Dr. Ramamurthi recalls how he was summoned to handle an emergency descending unexpectedly from the shooting of M. G. Ramachandran by M. R. Radha.

Dr. Ramamurthi's writing is for the most part as gentle as it is absorbing . However, his finding himself uphill all the way, was mainly due to the bureaucratic roadblocks he had to fight against while trying to make India the global destination point for neurosurgery and the politicisation of the medical sector by caste prejudices apart from the professional jealousy among the doctors themselves. Dr. Ramamurthi's comments on the "metamorphosis" of Dr. P. V. Cherian from a surgeon to a freedom fighter in later years are very revealing on the unpredictability of human behaviour. A suggestion he had made to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi about the replacement of her frayed pair of sandals by a well-padded pair led to the ending of the pain she was suffering from while walking. Dr. Ramamurthi writes repeatedly about how the spectacular advances made in medical science and technology have taken doctors and surgeons light years away even within a few years from what should now look like states of primitivism.

A remarkable discovery mentioned in the book is that brain activity is not determined by its shape or neural cells but by the functioning of the huge number of neuronal junctions.

Dr. Ramamurthi sounds a warning against the growing tendency, particularly in the south, to eat salads of raw vegetables without taking care to wash them. Such neglect could result in the growth of cists. An instance of serendipity -- the making of happy and unexpected discoveries by accident while looking for something else -- described in the book is the disappearance of a brain ailment while Dr. Irving Cooper, a New York Surgeon was pressing a blood transmission tube. It is also surprising to know from Dr. Ramamurthi that Mr. R. Venkataraman, while he was President refused for reasons best known to himself to inaugurate a conference of the World Federation of Neurological Societies in Delhi. He also refused to host a tea party for the distinguished surgeons who had come from all over the world to participate in the deliberations while his response would have been expected to be one of alacrity.

He writes with understandable agony about the attitude of the Reserve Bank of India to sanction foreign exchange for medical students going abroad only to learn and not for teaching by Indian doctors and he attributes this to the RBI's lack of faith in their ability to do so in spite of the reputation they have won for themselves. He gives an account of his indiscretion in having made an emotional speech about the "Rising Sun", the DMK's election symbol at a meeting in which MGR was present. .

Dr. Ramamurthi writes about the U.S. efforts to tap the medicinal ingredients of the neem tree in the precincts of the Vaitheeswaran temple and patent the intellectual property rights it could claim for it. Among the other anecdotes is about a young college student of British India who was refused permission to join the University Officers Training Corps (UOTC) of those days (later it was rechristened NCC -- National Cadet Corps). This young man was Gen. Sundarji who was destined to become the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.

Among the memories of Dr.Ramamurthi's generation is the "daylight saving" by the British Government in India during the Second World War by advancing the clock by one hour and the response of many in India with their perceptions of "Old" and "New" time. He shares the nostalgic recollections of his generation for Capt. Lakshmi of Netaji Bose's Indian National Army (INA).

The other recollections include those about the Swastika symbol which is of ancient Aryan origin and which was adopted upside down by Hitler for his infamous Nazi party. Dr. Ramamurthi braved the displeasure of an English doctor in the medical college with his audacity to flaunt the Indian Swastika on his shirt buttons. Dr. Ramamurthi is quite outspoken while writing about Nehru's socialist policy to which he attributes India remaining backward and poor even after half a century of its becoming free.

The Tamil translation of the book should ensure a far widespread readership of Dr. Ramamurthi's recollections not only as a distinguished surgeon but also very warm-hearted person.

CVG

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