ATHREYA

[Guest guest]

Dr.BalaKrishna Murthy Ramaraju , BS, MBBS, MS, FRCS, GERON. (

ATHREYA )

fmr Prof & HOD Surgery . Now a Vaana Prasthi.

Message from Rochester , Minnesota , USA.

<dr.balakrishnamurthy.ramaraju

001-508-265-1124

 

Saturday , January 27 2007.

 

Recently past Sri Panchami, Rattha Sapthami and Bhishma Ashttami have

inspired me to tell a real life story of a boy

which I thought might motivate and inspire some of our fellow

members. As I have mentioned before every one's life story

has something to inspire and motivate some if not all . So let it

be . Subham Bhooyaath . Sathyam Vadishyaami.

Every one of us can proudly say AHAM BRAHMA ASMI = There is God in

me; in all of us.

PRAJNAANAM BRAHMA = Intelligence and Wisdom are God. VEDA VITH

BRAHMA , BRAHMA VITH BRAHMA

= Every one of us who has some Vedic knowledge and knows a little

about God is nearer to God.

The boy I am talking about comes from a middle class large Brahmin

family. His father is a Pandit, an erudite Vedic

Scholar and a Jyothish. Father is a task master ( CHANDA SAASAN ) , a

strict disciplinarian and brooked

no nonsense from his son , but Father is kind hearted and meant

well .Father's instructions to son -

BHADRAM SRUNUYAAMA , BHADRAM PASYAAMA ; BHADRAM PATTAYAAMA ;

AANO BHADRAAHA KTATHAVO YANTHU = meaning overall - be a good boy ,

hear good , see good , read good

books and overall think good , dont speak harshly , respect elders

and speak only when spoken to .

I dont think the son minded the restrictions at all , afterall they

were for his good only .

I can visualize the boy toddling along to school with books in a

crude gunny hand bag, no back pack then ;

without shoes , walking on bare feet in rain and sun - shoes are

considered showy and disrespectful ;

wearing short knickers and half sleeved shirt - Full trousers and

full sleeved shirts are considered too classy;

his father did not think it necessary for the boy to have a sweater

in winter as it is mostly hot and an

umbrella in rain was not considered necessary as the young fellow was

likely to forget it in school.

The boy carried hand made note books and pencils and no pen. His

father had ambitions for the boy as is

natural for every father to have such an ambition. There are only two

people in this world who can never be jealous

of us - our parents and our elemtary school teachers - they always

expect great things of us and when we

succeed they are mighty proud of us. So it is with the boy . His

father wanted the boy to become a doctor ,

but left to himself the boy would probably become a scientist . No

way the boy could go against his father's

wishes - those were the days when father decided what one should

become and whom one should marry.

Job satisfaction and love of spouse come only after the fait accompli

after father's wish is fulfilled . So far as I

know the boy had no regrets in either score. So the days went by and

the boy appeared for Madras Board SSLC

Exam in 1949 , but failed in a science subject. The boy could not

walk in the streets without people mocking at him;

his relatives laughed at him ; his father refused to talk to him ;

his mother could not help him either as she is a

typical house wife afraid to contradict her husband. The boy felt

ashamed but did not lose hope . He used to ask

his diety Rama nd Anjaneya why they did not help him . He was too

young to know that no one can escape Kharma.

The boy worked very hard and got very good marks in supplementary and

got a seat in English medium in

Inter BI P C. and for the first time the boy's father took notice of

him . Quarterly exams and the boy scored first mark

in all three subjects Bi P and C and came second in English and

Sanskrit. That was the turning point in the boy's

educational career and he never looked back . He passed Inter with

distinstion and came Andhra University first

in 1951 but could not get a seat in Medical College as he was under

age and it was a disappointment allround.

But one way it was good because the young boy , youth now , joined B

Sc Zoology and passed out in first class

and Medical college seat was his as in those days there was no EAMCET

etc. Father was proud but like

BaaNa's father never spoke out in youth's favor as it was not

considered for the father to speak high of one's own

son . BaaNa went on to become a great scholar and wrote a classic

Biography of King Harsha Vardhana.

Our boy's father wanted him to become a physician , go to England and

set up practice , alas it is not to be

as his father passed away (JAATHASYA MARANAM DHRUVAM) when our youth

is preparing to write his final MBBS

exams . His father died of cerebral hemorrhage and surprise the

questions in final were on Stroke , cerebral

hemorrhage etc and the youth was guided by his diseased father to do

exams very well , but had to join Govt service

on a monthly salary of 250 Rupees . From then on life was a struggle

but he came through it alright.

He fulfilled his father's wish of going to England but instead of

becoming a Physician he became a Surgeon with

MS and FRCS . He went to England with 3 British Pounds in his pocket

as that was the foreign exchange allowed.

Those were the days of Permit , Licence Raj - one needed no objection

to apply for a passport , one needed

bonds and guarantors to stand security to go abroad; but comes the

moment come the people - friends and total

strangers came to his rescue - he could raise funds to go abroad and

pay off all debts .He came back to India

but had to face discrimination and was unhappy . He wanted to go to

USA and traveled to Singapore and

Kualalumpur and passed ECFMG medical exam . He got an offer of

residency in Geriatrics in Salt Lake City,

Utah where he traveled but forgot to sign the contract and by the

time he reached Salt Lake City the boss was nomore

and his successor had his own candidate . It is destiny and the boy

stayed in Salt Lake City,UT and took active

part in cultural activities and later on tried his best traveling in

Utah , Massachusetts , New Jersey and New York

states trying for a residency job in Medicine and/or Surgery , but

met only regrets . He was advised to read between

the lines and even though people were telling him he has good

qualifications he was not wanted and told to go away.

He returned to India disappointed but not disheartened.But the

destiny was taking its own course. Due to a misguided

advise from his own boss he took a wrong step and his promotion was

set back by 10 years which he took it sportively.

In course of time he became incharge professor of Pediatric Surgery,

Incharge Professor of Genito Urinary Surgery(Urology);

Fulltime Professor of Surgery , Head of the Dept of Surgery ,

Superintendent , Dean and Director of Medical Education -

what else one could ask for. All is well that ends well. Daiva

NirNayam and we are all bound by it. Om Thath Sath.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. In 1992 the day he retired he got USA Green card ,

became a USA citizen in 1997 , a dual

Citizen of India and USA in 2006 . At the age of 65 he did advanced 2

year Gerontology course from U Mass Boston

and worked as an honorary adviser in Elder Affairs Dept of State of

Massachusetts in Boston .

His cup of life is full , happy , contented and is now traveling to

India nd back to

USA when ever he wants and following his father's advise , see good

movies , read good books , visit holy places

and share what little he knows with others without imposing himself

on others and without treading on others corns.

God knows what we need . He may not give us what we want but He will

certainly give us what we need.

Sometimes what we need and what we want synchronize and God smiles

Benevolently and Grants our wish.

KARMANYEVADHIKAARASTHEY , NAA PHALESHU KADAACHANA. = IT IS OUR

RESPONSIBILITY TO DO THE

WORK ASSIGNED TO US AND NOT TO THE FRUITS THERE OF .

athreya