26 July 2006

Zara Yaad karo Qurbani.

He told her, "I will be back for Diwali."
Those words couldn’t stop her tears for she knew Diwali is another 8 months from then.
He again broke the silence and said, "Hey you mad fellow, I'll be calling you often and will be writing a letter every now and then."
She un-controllably hugged him and said finally, "Fine. Promise me that at least one call every weekend." He answered, "OK baba, now come on, smile a bit." He hugged her as if they were floating in eternal time.

Then his mother came. She put Tilak on his forehead and said, "I'm proud of you, Son! We'll inform you of your sister's marriage well in advance so that you can apply for leave before hand." He touched her feet and asked for her blessings. Mother affectionately kissed him.

He then left announcing to his sister that he'd be back and arrange the marriage like never before in town. Every one smiled and bid adieu.

As promised he came back, but not for the marriage, nor for Diwali. He came well before that. He came back with draped tri-colour on his body. He came back in a decorated-coffin, with many people guarding him around!



The family sank with shock, but the head of the family stood the grief, came forward and saluted his body first. And said the grief stricken crowd around that his son has achieved what he couldn’t himself!!, a "Veer Maran" which made his family proud.
Then the body was cremated with 21-gun salute.

This is not the story of one family, my dear friends. In fact, its the story of some 600 families across India who lost their loved ones to secure our borders.
Eight years back (in 1998) Pakistan had infiltrated inside our Borders on the high-bound areas of Kargil. Brave Indian soldiers and air force personnel handled those terror spreading maniacs with guts and gallant vision to safeguard our borders all along LOC (Line of control). Close to 600 Indian soldiers/officers lost their lives in the war.



To honor them the Indian Govt. declared a day on Indian calendar in their memory. And today is that day, friends.

Lets all remember those martyrs today who faced the opposition of well-equipped terror mongering neighbours to give us a glimpse of Indian might and the strength of Indian Unity.

Its not only a day of celebration for us, but also a day where we need to pray to God that we don’t get to such a situation again where it is inevitable but to fight our neighbour for our rights.


Let the soul of all the martyrs rest in peace.

24 July 2006

Children for equality

Yesterday I had an opportunity to visit a place as the first project of our team Dhwani.
It was a visit, feel and a first hand experience of sorts for me.
I went to a place where orphan children are taken care in good spirit and never let them feel that they are without any support.
The children are living in good, healthy environs. They are offered good tasty food (we had food there yesterday), normal education and other basic facilities.
The mentor Mr. Lakshminarayana proudly showed us around the place, facilities and their plans.

As we entered, in the outer premises, we were greeted by three dogs, Scooby, Johnny and another whose name I forgot.
And when we were to enter the confines of the hostel, the children came out with flowers in their hands and wished all of us, by giving us the flowers that were grown in that campus.
And I observed, there was no artificiality in their attitude.

The place is called Chaitanyananda Ashrama. It exists in a calm and peaceful locales of Kodigehalli, some 20Kms from Bangalore off Magadi Road.
On the occasion of the death anniversary of Mr. PNR Rao, his wife, Smt. Prema Rao had organised for a lunch in his honor for the children of the house.
I went there with Mrs. Prema Rao and some of her family friends.

Even though its called an ashram, there is no swamiji in it. But the aashramic environment is provided.
There is a garden taken care by the children themselves, where they grow the vegetables, fruits and flowers.
An area is of three adjacent sites of 30*40 dimension.


The best part of the aashram is, after the school timings, the children are engaged in playful things, apart from the curricular studies, they are being taught bhajans, songs, paintings, making chalk pieces for commercial purposes, and other handicrafts.
The mentors and teachers are open to suggestions from the out-siders/donors.

About the project, it was started in 1996 and housing about 20 children and 4 care-takers since 1998.
Age of the children range from 8 years to 15 years, as of now.
There are some people who have contributed heavily for this noble cause there, but most of the Godfathers are no more.
And Mr. Lakshminarayan says that the organization is completely dependent on the donations that flow in from the society, not a single Rupee has come from the Govt.

The children are spending days of their childhood, in a good place, with good friends and an equality-empowering system.
They have a time table that starts from morning 5 and ends at 10PM night.
This makes children understand the importance of being discipline, time sharing and learning while playing.


Apart from all these things, they provide the children an environment of Gurukula, the pride of ancient India, a basic vision of Indian culture and the values.
There's no distinction of caste or religion here, in fact there are children from all communities, there was a Christian, a Muslim and some SC/STs and also form other castes, but it doesn’t make them get different treatment from anyone, be it a visitor, or a teacher.
They all work in empathy with the children.

In all, this was a nice place, which welcomes the orphans and provides them a quality living.
Believe me, its no different a place from any of the residential schools, except for the luxuries and the often visiting parents.

13 July 2006

Sankatadalli Venkataramana(God in trouble)!!!

In Kannada, there is a phrase, “Sankata bandaga Venkataramana”, meaning we go to God only when we are in trouble. The ancestors who formed these phrases were all intelligent and great thinkers. They imagined all sorts of situations and have phrased some fantastic phrases as above which, in just about a few words, unfolds the gist of whole purpose of life and the human actions. But even they didn’t think of a situation where Venkataramana himself fell in danger!!!!!

True. The founders of those phrases, how brilliant let them be, couldn’t even imagine this situation. The situation has arrived; And Venkataramana is in trouble now. Call it anything, in Tirumala, abode of Lord Venkateshwara; there are some people, who have started calling the God as a ‘black stone decorated with garlands’!!! Do we go there to see this black stone?!! How can a small man ever understand the deep inherent science of worship, being practiced in Hinduism, behind that black stone? But its true that some un healthy things are happening in Tirumala, the aftermath of the Govt. change in Andhra Pradesh, in which state Tirumala exists.

One Rajashekhara Reddy Samuel, a converted Christian himself and the present CM of Andhra Pradesh, is said to be behind all these thick skinned attack on the Hindu pilgrims at the premier institute of Hindu religion. No need to say the Catholic heroin(ala Sonia Gandhi) is motivating YRS Redddy to indulge in all these things.(Well…these are the points raised by some Hindu fanatics, lets not dig these), but lets consider the fact-findings by a committee against these silent religious attacks on Hinduism.

I list here some of the important points found by the fact finding committee.

1. Propagation of Christianity with an ulterior motive of conversion is taking place in Tirupathi and Tirumala.
2. Shop Nos. 192 and 72 in the Shopping Complex are run by Sri Jamal Khadar and Maithri, both Muslims
3. Opposite to Lepakshi Emporium, there are about 50 Nepali shopkeepers who are Christians and they also offer prayers on Sundays, reading Bible and other Christian religious material in Tirumala.
4. About 40 Muslim shopkeepers also are there in Tirumala. They offer Namaz on Fridays in Tirumala. There are also some Muslim hawkers mostly from Kadiri (Ananthapur District).
5. TTD also stated that they did not verify the religion particulars of the contract labourers and also scouts and guides.
6. The Committee is informed that various illegal activities both at Tirumala and Tirupathi are going on, such as sale and consumption of liquor, sale and consumption of meat, flesh trade, gambling etc.
7. It is also brought to the notice of the Committee that cow slaughter is also going on in down hill at Tirupathi near D.R. Mahal and that the meat is being transported to Tirumala clandestinely.
8. TTD Kalyana Mandapam at Nagalapuram is being used by the Christians for their prayer congregations and for performance of Christian marriages. Near Sree Rama and Siva Temple in Tirupathi, Christian prayers and propagation of religion are taking place intercepting the Hindu devotees visiting the temples and persuade them to join Christianity.
9. The newly constituted Specified Authority in place of the Board of Trustees (the term of which has expired) is being headed by Sri D. Rosaiah, I.A.S. who is said to be a Christian.
10. The Tourism Department is going to take up erection and operation of Rope Way from Tirupathi to Tirumala. It is also learnt that the Tourism Department plans to establish Multiplexes, Food Courts and other Entertainment and Recreational Spots on Tirumala Hills. The Committee feels that in order to facilitate the activities of Tourism Department on the hills, the area of TTD is restricted to two hills covering an area of 27.5 sq.kms.

The Division Bench has observed in the judgment of a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court reported in 1997(2) ALD Page 59 (DB) – Tallapakam Koppu Raghavan Vs State of A.P. as follows: -
"Although there is no documentation available as the origin is lost in antiquity, there is no attempt made before us to question the ownership of the Lord Venkateswara of Seven Hills. This being true and a real concept the Board of Trustees, the Committee or the Executive Officer are only administrators of the property of Lord Venkateswara. They can have no right of ownership in themselves and they cannot thus decide to do anything against the interest of the right of the owner i.e., in the instant case, Lord Venkateswara. Once the ownership is resolved and the right to administer is deemed to vest as provided under Article 26 of the Constitution of India in the plurality of the devotees and regulated by the provisions of the Act and Rules framed there under, no administrator, whether appointed under the Act or otherwise can take liberty to destroy the sanctity and Holiness of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams and domain, as we have already held, extends to all the Seven Hills called 'Tirumala'."

Also in the same judgment,
"It is not in dispute that pilgrims in thousands and millions in number sometimes visit the temple and there is no day which is not full of activities of the pilgrims and various rituals, pooja and rites of the cult preserved since antiquity and no part of the Seven Hills, except some secular activities which are essential for the service of Lord Venkateswara, is free from religious activities in and around the temple right from the Foot Hills on all sides."

11. The Committee is of the considered opinion that restricting the area of TTD to only 21 KMs covering 2 hills, runs counter to the ancient texts and age old traditions and practices of the temple and that the Hindus always considered Sri Venkateswara as Lord of the Seven Hills and lakhs of devotees climb the Seven Hills with utmost devotion and reverence bare footed chanting the names of Lord Venkateswara. The Committee further feels that opening the Seven Hills to the Tourism Department will destroy the sanctity, serenity and spirituality of the Seven Hills and will seriously hurt the feelings of the Hindus throughout the Country and the World.
12. It is brought to the notice of the Committee that previously Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Samithi was organizing various activities like Harikathas, devotional lectures and concerts in religious music and dance by eminent artists. Now, the name Hindu has been removed and a Dharma Prachara Parishad is in its place which is hardly conducting any religious discourses by eminent Hindu spiritual leaders and is not conducting any religious cultural activities by prominent artists. The members of the public further expressed that eminent Hindu spiritual leaders should be invited to give discourses regularly at important places through out the country and even abroad. They are of the further opinion that contributions of the devotees running into Hundreds of Crores should be utilized only for Hindu Religious and Dharmic activities and various service activities in the name of Lord Venkateswara only. The funds should not be diverted to other activities.
13. Devasthanam has donated considerable land to a Muslim organization for construction of Mosque which has seriously hurt and agitated Hindus and arousing their religious sentiments. Several persons have expressed that more than 35,000 temples in the State are not having any means for performing daily pooja and donating for other religions is wholly unwarranted.


Above notes are those extracted from a report formulated by a committee formed to find the facts first hand at the holy land of Tirumala and Tirupati.
His Holiness Sri Sri Sri Visweswara Theertha of Pejavar Mutt, Udupi, requested the members viz., Sri Justice G. Bikshapathy, Sri Justice K.B. Siddappa, former Judges of Andhra Pradesh High Court, Sri T.S. Rao, former Director General of Police, Andhra Pradesh, Smt. Dr. P. Geervani, former Vice-Chancellor of Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyala and Sri Dr. R. Shrihari, Former Vice-Chancellor of Dravidian University, Kuppam, to function as a Fact Finding Committee under the Chairmanship of Sri Justice G. Bikshapathy to ascertain the factual position as regards the activities of Non-Hindu religious communities in Tirumala and Tirupathi and to furnish a report to His Holiness for considering the steps to be taken to prevent undesirable activities of the Christian and other Non-Hindu Communities.

12 July 2006

A letter from Mumbai

Got this mail from a friend. Holds Mumbai spirit up and threatens a threatener!!
Good job, Mumbaikers, we're with you in this hour of grief. Terror can not take anything from us, we've survived 100s of such things in the 1000s of yester years. We'll face it with gutts and courage.

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Dear Terrorist,

Even if you are not reading this we don't care. Time and again you tried to disturb us and disrupt our life - killing innocent civilians by planting bombs in trains, buses and cars. You have tried hard to bring death and destruction, cause panic and fear and create communal disharmony but everytime you were disgustingly unsuccessful. Do you know how we pass our life in Mumbai? How much it takes for us to earn that single rupee? If you wanted to give us a shock then we are sorry to say that you failed miserably in your ulterior motives. Better look elsewere, not here.

We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis or Punjabis and Bengaliies. Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, govt. employees or private employees. WE ARE MUMBAIKERS (Bombay-ites, if you like). We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this. On the last few occassions when you struck (including the 7 deadly blasts in a single day killing over 250 people and injuring 500+ in 1993), we went to work next day in full strength. This time we cleared everything within a few hours and were back to normal - the vendors placing their next order, businessmen finalizing the next deals and the office workers rushing to catch the next train. (Yes the same train you targetted)

Fathom this: Within 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospital, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn't require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office was close to 100%, trains & buses were packed to the brim, the crowds were back.

The city has simply dusted itself off and moved one - perhaps with greater vigour.

We are Mumbaikers and we live like brothers in times like this. So, do not dare to threaten us with your crackers. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and can not be harmed.

Please forward this to others. U never know, by chance it may come to hands of a terrorist in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq and he can then read this message which is specially meant for him!!!

With Love,
>From the people of Mumbai (Bombay)

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More information at Mumbai Help.

Terror has a religion here!!!!

We want to know if the terror has any religion. We would like to know if death has any religion. We certainly wish to know if the birth has any religion. Does it? It doesn’t. None of them, life, death, violence, peace… are the basic attributes, they doesn’t have any colour, choice or religion.

Terrorism itself is a religion, follower of which doesn’t respect life.

I remember a story that is mostly un-told today; this is a story of Shree Shankaracharya winning against terrorism by applying some good thoughts.

In ancient times, Madhurai temple had a worshipper who used to worship Meenakshi, the goddess there, as a Raudri, in the violent form. So, naturally, the Goddess wore a violent attribute to herself. She used to roam around the city at nights searching for the human meat. She was so violent that no one could dare go near the temple after the Sun set.

Once Shankara the monk came to the city roaming. King Pandya served him in the best possible way and upon the nightfall, Shankara asked the king to arrange for his stay in the temple so that he wanted to spend the time at the temple that night. The king refused to do this, as he didn’t want to carry the blame of killing a sanyasi in his time. Upon hearing that Shankaracharya said, since he was a sanyasi, he should not be averse to his dharma of not spending any night in the worldly places; he had to spend it in the abode of the Goddess. King agreed reluctantly and arranges for a night’s stay for the sanyasi at the temple.

As the night fell and the gates of the temple closed behind, Goddess came out of sanctum sanctorum rushing to find her food. In that exercise, she looks at the young boy who is so electric in his looks and reciting the prayers in praise of her.

She asks the boy to go away from her way; she has decided not to harm this guy. For which he says if its in the rule that whoever is seen first to her is a pray, then he shall be, he was ready for it. She allows him to speak, and after that she would kill him. He recites some poems written on her and impresses her. And he then confides in her about his long-standing wish of playing “Pagade”(a royal betting game) with her. As she was already impressed, she gets ready to play with him. He prays in her for the required numbers in the dice and prepares the pitch for the play. And also says he would recite Lalitha sahasranama along with the commentary on it as per his understanding, Goddess becomes happy and gives him a go-ahead. The play is started. But the betting requires a kind of involvement, so they had this bet If the sanyasi lost, then the Goddess would have him as the dinner first and then moved on with her destructive work, If the sanyasi won, Goddess would stop being violent and destructive. Both agreed to the terms.

Then as the play started and Shankara recited each and every name from the Lalitha Sahasranama with a detailed commentary on each of them, Goddess was impressed so much the she forgot that she had a lot of other things to do that night. And at the dawn, the game ended, and it so happened that the Goddess won the match. But since she was used to the routine of not having ‘food’ when Sun is around, she was placed in a dilemma of having Shankara for food or not…! Finally she decides to eat him and tries to get up.

Allllaaaaaaaasssss!!!! She couldn’t get up. She was virtually arrested in that place. Upon getting angry, asks Shankara to explain it. Shankara prostrates before the Goddess and politely says, “Mother, I know its you who has won the game, but look at the numbers on dice I got during the game. They all were so perfect that they could create a web around you. It’s the sweetness in your names that made these perfect numbers appear on the dice. Now you alone can come out of this web by becoming as sweet and non-violent as you were always. In spite of these if you think you’ve won, I’m ready, you can have me!!!!!”

What a polite way to win the terrorism, Shankaracharya thus wrote the first Shreechakra, which softened the Goddess and incorporated all her powers in it. Goddess thus became a Mother again and blessed the saint with all the knowledge in the world.

That’s a myth, you can argue. But still didn’t it have the message of terrorism is a religion which doesn’t seem to follow any humane laws. But in any adverse case too, there is a way to overcome it, as Shankara has proved it in this story, apply a humane touch to the terror; it becomes the most soothing power for you.

I recollected this story not to imply that all terrorists must be freed, but if we try to attach a humane value to them, and if we show them that there is a value to each life, then they can become most responsible citizen as well. We should not be soft on them, but we should handle them with a bit of mind and a humane element.


Yesterday’s Mumbai attack of Islamic-terrorists must be condemned at any cost. Those terrorists call themselves Islamic, but do they follow this religion? What is said in that? Do they mean to kill innocent people? Killing has no religion. Hindus, Muslims, Christians all are dead in the terror act of Tuesday in Mumbai. So are women, children, elderly people, there is no discrimination in the eyes of the God of death. Then why this carnage? What is the benefit they claim by holocaust of innocent people?

We’ll cry for some time and come out of the shock and move on in life, but would that mean the people who are dead had nothing to offer? We lost so much of human expertise, we’ve lost a lot of knowledge base, and we’ve lost a lot of hard working executives who would’ve done India proud at some point in future. There’s no salvation for it. Does that mean victory for terror? No. Definitely, the country’s enemies are not strong enough to call it a victory. ‘coz Indian strength lies in its unity. Mumbai has shown to the world that it’s the most “Humane city, not the Rudest”. That’s the essence of Indian ness.

I just hope we’ll find some way to come out of this mess created by the religious fanatic terrorists. But right at this moment, lets pray for the peace for the families of the victims of the terror strike.

11 July 2006

Prathah smaranam Sree Guru Charanam

Guru Brahma Gurur Vishnuh Gurudevo Maheshwarah Guruh sakshat Para Brahma Tasmai Shree Gurave namah

* meaning, Guru Brahma ... is the creator. What does He create? He creates your interest. He creates motivation. He creates that light, that wisdom within you.

Guru Brahma, Gurur Vishnuh ... is the protector. He protects us from all negative energies. He protects us from all negative powers, from all evil powers. He protects us from bad society, from kusanga. He protects us and leads us to the satsanga.

Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gururdevo Maheshwara ... and He is the protector and the liberator. Some say Shiva is the destroyer. Destroyer means the destroyer of the darkness, destroyer of the ignorance, destroyer of the negative waves in our life, the destroyer of the negative thoughts.


Gurave Sarvalokanam
Bhishaje Bhavaroginam
Nidhaye Sarvavidhyaanaam
Dhakshina Moorthaye Namah!

Guru is nothing but the Supreme Brahman devoid of attributes.
That is the reason why we bow to the Guru.
Shiva is the first Guru,
Who leads us from darkness in to the world of illuminated knowledge.
He is the bank of all sorts of knowledge.
Let me salute him in the form of Dakshina Murty.


Friends, today is being celebrated as 'Guru Purnima': a day to think of all our teachers and thank them.

Sadaashiva samarambhaam
Shankaracharya Madhyamam
Asmadaachaarya paryantaam
Vande Guru paramparaam!

Guru Shishya parampara starts from Shiva and continues through Lord Krishna, Veda Vyasa, and Shankaracharya.....thru to the current Acharya.

Lets celebrate the day with our grateful Naman to these teachers.

* wanted to add some of my personal associations with teachers, but since that would take some more time to get formulated here, I wished to publish this in its current form on this auspecious day.

One more interesting reading is provided here. It raises a question whether the teacher-student relation is in strain.

07 July 2006

The treatment

Once upon a time…not so long ago..oops not ago…! Ok I give up. I don’t know how to start a story… But at any cost, I wanted to tell this story.. its about a doctor…

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As the ‘Doctor’ bustles about the Cardio Thoracic Centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), few can tell that, on January 7, he was at the same operation theatre in a different capacity.
The roles had reversed that day and ‘Doctor’, one of India’s best-known heart surgeons, was being operated upon himself by the same team that now assists him.
To the layman, that bypass surgery was stunning for one simple reason. ‘Doctor’, who conducted the first heart transplant in the country, picked the junior-most faculty member, Dr A K Bisoi, to operate upon him.
Bisoi has been the eminent surgeon’s assistant for five years. The rest of the team, including the anaesthetist, Dr Sandeep Chauhan, is the same that routinely accompanies ‘Doctor’ during his operations.
“I have been associated with the department for more than 30 years and have complete faith in people I have trained,” said ‘Doctor’, who is already back to performing surgery himself. “Even if a patient comes in the middle of the night, he will receive the same treatment.”
The thought of picking another eminent name to do the honours when he went under the knife did not even cross his mind. What is good enough for his patients is good enough for him, says ‘Doctor’.
“I have seen the team work with me for years. I know how they function and how good they are. So if I can trust my patients with them, I can trust myself with them,” he said.
Now that he is back on his feet, there is a quiet sense of pride in his eyes. He looks at his young assistant, Dr Bisoi, and says: “Do you know he was born the year I finished my MBBS? As a teacher, I am proud of all my students.”
The surgery was conducted in the same operation theatre and on the same operation table that ‘Doctor’ has been using since he joined AIIMS as a faculty member in 1970. For the team operating on him, however, it was a test of nerves.
“No matter how good you are, your teacher is always the best,” said Dr Bisoi. “He has taught me for 11 years. It was a great feeling that he trusted me so much. Though I was not nervous, this was the first time I was praying for the patient’s full recovery throughout the surgery.”
The responsibility was huge, as the only people ‘Doctor’ had confided in were his assistants. He did not even tell his immediate family about his surgery.
He said that he detected his problem during a routine check up on January 6. The condition was not acute but he decided to get the surgery done before it worsened. So, the very next day, he was on the operating table.
The run-up to the surgery was not easy on his assistants. Emotions were involved. “I even called him even late at night before the surgery,” said Dr Bisoi.
‘Doctor’ made it easier for them. He walked into the operation theatre and gave them detailed instructions before lying down on the table. “Just five hours after surgery, he was giving me instructions on what to do with the tubes used for anaesthesia,” said Dr Chauhan.
Added Dr Bisoi: “As he regained consciousness, he inquired about the patients in ICU.” By night, ‘Doctor’ was back a home. On January 24, he was performing surgeries again. “I believe what I tell my patients about the surgery,” he said. “It doesn’t make you ill, it makes you healthy and normal.
“My patients keep asking me if they can travel by air, by train. I tell them if they did it when they were ill, why can’t they do it when they are fine,” said ‘Doctor’.
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This was a news pick up from a leading newspaper of the country dated some time ago. And now to some facts about this great gentleman of our times.

Why don’t we hear about him all these days?? Dr. P. Venugopal?
For all his achievements, he is known to be an extremely media-shy person; he once retorted to a journalist who wanted to interview him saying - "I have nothing to tell you and i do not want the publicity".

What are his achievements?
A gold medalist at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. Also spent time training under the legendary heart surgeaon Dr. Cooley and the Texas Heart Institute. Regarded as the foremost heart-surgeon on the country he is also the pioneer of open-heart surgery. He performed the first heart transplant in India in the year 1994. He was also in the news last year for his thoughts on stem-cell research which promises to revolutionarize heart-surgery. He is the man who has given Indian medication an international standard.

Patients talk about how they'd rather come to AIIMS rather than go to a private hospital even if they can afford the private hospitals since Dr. Venugopal personally interacts with patients. Students and colleagues are in awe of him.

And after all these…
With 46 years of service at AIIMS, having succesfully performed 50,000 open heart surgeries and 15,000 closed-heart surgeries and tremendous respect all around, you expect the government to treat him well, right? Well, in case you haven't read about it - they fired him three days ago. With immediate effect.

Health minister Ramadoss said he was being sacked on disciplinarian grounds. What was his fault? He criticized the government for interfering in the hospital's administration. Apparently, going by the govt. law, you cannot do this. Something to do with the fact that you are a govt. servant. There is no freedom of speech for the govt servants, though.

The way, he was ousted is really shameful.
1) He was not even on the agenda in the meeting where his fate was sealed!
2) When the topic was brought up, he was asked to leave the room without even getting a chance to explain himself. The minister did not bother about heeding others' advice on this issue.
3) Of the 17 people in that room, most are affiliated to the health ministry. There were only three dissenting voices. Even those who did not dissent were unhappy with the way the minister hammered his voice in.
4) All the time, Dr. Venugopal was waiting outside the room like a petty peon.

When the news was anounced, he was visibly shaken and had to be assisted to his car.

First, he was accused of supporting anti-reservation students, which was against the minister’s own views. This charge has been openly proved to be false. The person who headed the anti-reservation strike said that, Dr. V called him and warned him to call off the strike.

And even if Dr.Venugopal was to be guilty, in this case he is not, it is not the way to treat a senior doctor who has served the country with all his ‘Heart’ and time for over half a century(!) Its really a shameful day in the history of modern India where the politicians behave asif they are the Gods and they have solution to every problem! But where the problem is the Governamant itself and the ill-interpret democracy of the country. The politicians create problems themselves and give a solution which was not called for and could be accounted for. They are upto spoiling the civilization. Oh! My fellow country men, lets be united against these wicked, garbage headed sheepish devils.