In 1978 a Mumbai-based businessman and philanthropist donated the seed money to help establish a not-for-profit ophthalmic institute in Chennai. For him, it was contributing to yet another cause; for the institute, the contribution would enable thousands realise a dream - the ability to see. The ophthalmic hospital is better known as Sankara Nethralaya and the benevolent gentleman is CU Shah - Sankara Nethralaya’s first donor.

In the years to come, Mr. Shah’s success and generosity has grown manifold and the little-known eye hospital has slowly and steadily emerged as one of the leading ophthalmic institutions in the country.

And on August 27, 2009, it was the turn of the hospital’s Post Graduate students to come face-to-face with the man behind their training institute - the CU Shah post Graduate Training Centre. Mr. Shah, now 92-years-old, took a trip down memory lane, recalling his association with Sankara Nethralaya with the next generation of doctors that the institute is grooming.

Impressed by Chairman Emeritus Dr. Badrinath’s vision and “desire to serve,” Mr. Shah says he only gave a “small contribution” and attributes the institute’s growth to the dedicated service by all doctors and employees at Sankara Nethralaya led by Dr. Badrinath. It’s the “small contribution” of Rs. 10 lakhs which helped this institute establish itself.

Describing Sankara Nethralaya as a “great gift to the nation,” Mr. Shah, said he was impressed to see how much the institute has progressed. “I never thought SN will reach this height.” Mr. Shah, who is also Vice-President of the Medical Research Foundation, was accompanied by his son-in-law Mr. Rohit V Shah and MRF board member Mr. R.C. Parekh.

Mr. Shah is known for having successfully established several charitable organisations, including a medical college, a school of nursing and a pharmacy, prompting Dr. TS Surendran, Vice-Chairman, Medical Research Foundation, to describe Mr. Shah as the man with the “midas touch.”
Dr. Meenakshi, Director, Academics, outlined the activities and courses of the CU Shah Opthalmic centre; Dr. Rashmin Gandhi, Director e-learning, briefed the audience on the rural eye hospital and its services and Mr. Irungovel, HOD, CU Shah eye bank, traced the growth of the eye bank and its initiatives towards eye donations.

Dr. Badrinath described Mr. Shah’s seed money as a “beautiful thought and a beautiful act,” and acknowledged the many people and organisations that have benefited from Mr. Shah’s magnanimity. He very aptly summed up Nethralaya’s ideology and Mr. Shah’s contribution: “God sends good people for good causes.” While for Sankara Nethralaya Mr. Shah was and remains undoubtedly godsent, for Mr. Shah, out of all his charitable contributions, the one to Sankara Nethralaya will always be his “greatest pride.”

On July 14, 2009 Dr. T. Janardhana Rao celebrated his 70th birthday. The special occasion was marked by a rather special gesture. As a well-wisher of Sankara Nethralaya, Dr. Rao requested his friends and well-wishers to celebrate the occasion by supporting Sankara Nethralaya. And so, the 200 odd guests who attended the event in Melbourne, Australia, where Dr. Rao resides, showed their love and affection for Dr. Rao by making generous contributions to Sankara Nethralaya; nearly Rs. 5 lakhs was raised for the hospital through this act of kindness.

This is neither the first time that Dr. Rao has contributed to Nethralaya nor is it his first tryst with philanthropic activities. Having resided in Melbourne for over 40 years now, Dr. Rao has diligently worked towards the welfare of the Indian community in Australia. His efforts in this regard led to the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi making him the Honorary Consul and 20 years later he was made Honorary Consul General. His bond with Sankara Nethralaya goes beyond the institute; a classmate of Chairman Emeritus Dr. S.S. Badrinath at the Madras Medical College, Dr. Rao attributes the achievements of the hospital to its dedicated team of doctors and staff led under the able guidance of the “visionary” Dr. Badrinath. “It’s not easy to achieve what Dr. Badrinath and Sankara Nethralaya have in the last 30 years,” he asserts. “The hospital is comparable to any other hospital of world standards,” he says.

Over the years, Dr. Rao has worked tirelessly to raise money “every time funding is required” like during the Kargil war, the Gujarat riots etc. Giving back to the community is something which Dr. Rao has been pursuing passionately over the years.

He attributes his success, both as a surgeon and as a philanthropist, to his wife Ms. Vimala Rao. “She has been of immense support. I could not have achieved all that I have without her.” When a team from Sankara Nethralaya interacted with him for this interview, it happened to be his wife’s birthday. And how did the couple celebrate it? Yet another donation of Rs. 1 lakh was made to Sankara Nethralaya. No doubt, then, behind every successful man is a woman and behind every successful organisation, like Sankara Nethralaya, are magnanimous and selfless people like Dr. Rao.