NEW DELHI: Google on Monday marked the 100th birth anniversary of Indian ophthalmologist Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy with a doodle.Venkataswamy is the founder and chairman of Aravind Eye Hospitals , Madurai, the largest provider of eye care in the world.Incidentally, Google CEO Sundar Pichai too hails from Madurai, the city where Aravind Eye Hospital first came into being.The eye hospital has treated over 55 million patients and performed over 6.8 million surgeries and has played a crucial role in eradicating cataract-related blindness in the country.According to Google blog post, he was known as Dr V to his colleagues and patients. He founded the Aravind Eye Hospital, which started as “an 11-bed facility and has grown into a network of clinics providing life-changing care to citizens of a nation struggling with high rates of blindness.”Born on October 1, 1918, in Vadamalapuram, Tamil Nadu, Venkataswamy was permanently crippled by rheumatoid arthritis at age 30. However, despite his health issues, he learned how to perform surgery to remove cataracts—the leading cause of blindness.“Dr V could perform 100 surgeries in a day. Addressing the problem of blindness in a holistic fashion, he set up eye camps in rural communities, a rehab centre for blind people, and a training program for ophthalmic assistants, personally performing over 100,000 successful eye surgeries,” the post added.Venkataswamy was conferred with Padma Shri in 1973.He died on July 7, 2006, at the age of 87.
Google, on Monday, marked Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy 's 100 birth anniversary with a doodle . The ophthalmologist was the founder and former chairman of Aravind Eye Hospitals, and dedicated his life to eliminating needless blindness.Born on October 1, 1918, Govindappa Venkataswamy - popularly called Dr. V - is known for developing a high quality, high volume, low-cost service delivery model that has restored sight to millions of people.Growing up in Tamil Nadu's Vadamalapuram, Dr. V write on sand collected from the riverbank due to lack of pencils and paper. He went on to study Chemistry at the American College in Madurai. In 1944, he earned his M.D. degree from Stanley Medical College.He was crippled by rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 30, following which he had to leave the Indian Army Medical Corps.He then returned to medical school and earned a degree in ophthalmology.In a blog post, Google said, "Dr. V could perform 100 surgeries in a day. Addressing the problem of blindness in a holistic fashion, he set up eye camps in rural communities, a rehab center for blind people, and a training program for ophthalmic assistants, personally performing over 100,000 successful eye surgeries."He was felicitated by the Government of India in 1973 with the Padma Shri.He passesd away on July 7, 2006, at the age of 87.
Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy was known as Dr V to his colleagues and patients. (Source: Google) Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy was known as Dr V to his colleagues and patients. (Source: Google)
Dr Govindappa Venkataswamy, ophthalmologist and founder of the Aravind Eye Hospital, was honoured by Google on his 100th birthday with a doodle. Born on October 1, 1918, in Vadamalapuram of Tamil Nadu, he was known as Dr V to his colleagues and patients. Venkataswamy was a visionary ophthalmologist, who dedicated his life to eliminating needless blindness. Despite being stricken with rheumatoid arthritis at an early age, he learned how to perform surgery to remove cataracts, one of the major cause of blindness.
Working towards the cause, he set up eye camps in rural areas, training programmes for ophthalmic assistants and also set up a rehab center for blind people. Acknowledging his contribution, the Government of India conferred him with the Padmashree award in the year 1973.
His ambitious venture, Aravind Eye Hospital started as an 11-bed facility in 1976 but has since grown and spread across the nation and serves a huge number of people in need. Doctors mortgaged their homes and donated their own furniture in order to finance the facility initially. Out of the 11 beds, six were devoted to those patients who could not pay for the treatment and the other five beds to those paying only as much as they could afford.
Having performed over 100,000 successful eye surgeries throughout his life, Dr V believed, “Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must also be the joy of doing something beautiful.”
The doodle appears half blurred and half clear with the caricature of Dr Venkataswamy at the center, representing the vision of the ophthalmologist to help save people’s eyesight. It is an appreciation of the beauty of his endeavours and his role in helping people see the world better.
He died on July 7, 2006.
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