Dharmic Leader
Contributed By - Sri Devi Bulusu
Dharmic Leader
“Intelligence and capability are not enough.
There must be the joy of doing something beautiful.”
- Journal entry by Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy
Every five seconds, someone in our world goes blind, and a child goes blind every minute. The global cost of blindness in terms of lost productivity is a staggering $47 billion per year. According to the World Health Organization, 39 million people in the world are blind, 80% of them needlessly so. “Needless blindness” refers to the fact that some forms of blindness could be averted by preventive treatment. Cataract is a prime example of needless blindness. Unfortunately, cataract still accounts for more than 60% of blindness in India.
Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy who was fondly known as Dr. V by many was born on October 1, 1918 in Vadamalapuram, Tamilnadu, India. During his early childhood, Dr. V was deeply touched by an incident in his neighborhood in the village. A young woman in her early 20s died due to lack of medical care while giving birth to her child. A few years later, Dr. V entered medical school with plans to become an obstetrician with a resolve to prevent the tragedy of untimely deaths. In 1944, he joined the army as a medical officer. Four years later, he was discharged from his job after contracting a rare form of rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that left his fingers permanently crippled barring him in a career in obstetrics. Dr. V's becoming an eye surgeon was a sheer accident. When he became an eye surgeon, the pain in his body made it difficult to walk and even hold a pen. “Severe pain has been my companion and it has never left me,” He once said in a rare, raw admission. The beauty is how he transformed his suffering into empathy. When asked how it was like to witness his own crippling and to realize that it barred him forever from his chosen career in obstetrics, Dr. V smiled and gave the invaluable answer that summed up the story of his life “It was difficult, but then you move on.” It took him years of practice to be a surgeon and train his fingers to perform surgeries. Those fingers went on to delicately perform more than 100,000 successful sight-restoring surgeries with precision. In 1976, he founded Aravind, an eye care clinic operating with 11 beds out of a family home in South India. Dr. V was an ardent follower of Gandhiji’s simplicity, truthfulness and self-reliance. He recollects that Gandhiji says - "In spiritual life, progress can be made in the life, not by merely going to a monastery or an ashram."
What started as a post-retirement project of an eye surgeon with little money, no business plan, and a magnificent vision, lit the eyes of millions through a robust and sustainable eye care system. High volume, high quality and affordable cost is the triple part mantra of Aravind model. Today, the Aravind Eye Care System is the largest and most productive blindness prevention organization on the planet through averting needless blindness. The average eye surgeon at Aravind does 2,000 surgeries per year. National average in India is 400 and for the USA it is 200. In terms of the power of standardization, reliability, product recognition, accessibility, scale and low cost, Aravind in eye care is what McDonalds is in fast food. Dr. V’s vision linking eye care delivery with hamburgers seemed impossible for many. But, Dr. V lived up to his vision.
"There is a lot of energy in the higher levels of consciousness. That consciousness is truth as such. Mind does not see the truth. And it can organize things in a better way than what the Mind can do."
– Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy recollecting his spiritual influencers guiding forces Aurobindo and Divine Mother.
Aravind Eye Hospitals handle over 3.7 million outpatient visits and perform over 400,000 surgeries each year making it the largest eye care provider. In the last 35 years, its network of 5 eye hospitals in South India successfully treated more than 32 million patients and performed more than 4 million surgeries, three fourths of which were free of charge and the rest were at an ultra-subsidized rate to the patient. Patients pay on at will basis. In a country of 12 million blind, of which majority live on less than $2/day, Aravind ripped the price tag off sight-restoring surgery. Aravind’s hospital in Madurai alone sees roughly 2,000 patients every day.
Here is a larger than life journal entry from the 1980s by Dr. V – the man who worked beyond his physical limitations and lived up to a larger vision.
“Attachment to your village, your hospital, your state or country – that must go. You must live in your soul and face the universal consciousness. To see all as one.
To have this vision and work with strength and wisdom all over the world.
To give sight for all.”
Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology (LAICO) is the training and consulting arm of Aravind Eye Care System. LAICO aims to replicate the Aravind model to build international capacity for eye care. As of today, LAICO partners with 341 hospitals, increased surgeries per ophthalmologists by 45% and trained 2,942 management trainees from 84 countries.
“Aravind Hospital aims at bringing higher consciousness to transform mind and body and soul of people. It is not a mechanical structure repairing eyes. It has a deeper structure.”
- Journal entry by Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy
Madurai – one of the oldest cities of South India was built in the shape of a lotus. At the heart of the city lies the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple whose origin tracks back to 6 BC. Dr. V named the Aravind Eye Care System after the freedom-fighter-turned-mystic Sri Aurobindo. Aravind is the South Indian variation of Aurobindo. The name means “lotus”, a flower that, across many Eastern traditions, signifies spiritual consciousness. The city is a seamless confluence of seeking divine darshan (sight) and giving infinite vision. This is Reality in Spirituality - a reference for formulating our respective unique journeys.
Golden lotus in Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple, Madurai
“When we grow in spiritual consciousness, we identify with all that is in this world. And there is no exploitation. It is ourselves we are helping. It is ourselves we are healing.”
- Journal entry by Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy
Dear Readers,
Over the last two and half years, through this column I quite enjoyed sharing some of my thoughts that are dear to me. Thank you, AZ India Times, for this opportunity to me! At this juncture, due to my calendar constraints, I would like say adios. I am just an e-mail away if you ever want to reach me: sridevibulusu@gmail.com
With best wishes,
Sri Devi Bulusu