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| Legends from the South |
| Dr S Rangachari |
| The statue of Dr S Rangachari within the precincts
of the Madras Medical College is a famous landmark of Chennai.
Most visitors know that he was an eminent surgeon of pre-Independence
Madras whose exploits have become part of the lore of the medical
annals of the city, though they may be unaware that his was
perhaps the first and only memorial built entirely with funds
donated by a grateful public. A public he served tirelessly,
often donating his personal money to needy patients to buy medicines
and food. |
| Dr Sarukkai Rangachari was born in the village
of Sarukkai in April 1882. His father Krishnamachari was a government
servant who played a role in the construction of the Napier
Bridge and parts of the General Hospital of Madras. His grandfather
Raja Srinivasa Iyengar was a wealthy landlord. |
| Rangachari graduated from Madras Christian
College and decided to study medicine, moved by the sufferings
of his ailing grandfather and the tragedy he witnessed at the
General Hospital of a mother who had lost her son. He had to
overcome the opposition of his orthodox extended family whose
elders thought practising medicine was an unclean profession
for a Brahmin. |
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| Once he qualified as a doctor, Rangachari had to
face many challenges. His great skill as a practitioner and his fame
led to envy and animosity from the British medical fraternity. As
a result, he was frequently transferred all over the Madras Presidency.
Petty rivalries continued to harass him even when he took charge as
Professor of Surgery and Medicine at Madras Medical College, and he
eventually resigned his post in disgust, to set up private practice.
He became one of the most celebrated medical practitioners of his
time, achieving international fame. He was a legend at a time when
the Madras medical scene was dominated by Colonel Pandalay, renowned
for his surgical skills, Dr Guruswami Mudaliar for his proficiency
in general medicine, and Dr A Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar, the most famous
gynaecologist of the period. Dr Rangachari was to achieve fame in
all three fields. |
| One of the many stories, real and apocryphal, that
went to make the Rangachari legend was of an Englishwoman’s refusal
to allow Rangachari to deliver her baby. He was then an assistant
of a Dr Thomson, who however had more faith in the young Indian than
in his own ability. The baby was safely delivered by Rangachari, who
entered the ward in the guise of an anaesthetist and took over from
Dr Thomson once the lady became unconscious. |
| Dr Rangachari’s clinic “Kingston” on Poonamallee
High Road soon became a much sought after destination for people with
diverse health problems. He had two operation theatres, and started
work at four a.m. every day. He performed operations in both rooms
without a break till 11 a.m. |
| Rangachari was famous for his Rolls Royce in which
he visited his patients rich and poor—after completing surgery and
ward visits for the day—carrying his lunch packet with him. When someone
questioned the need for such ostentation, he is said to have retorted:
“Why not? I practically live in my car, visiting patients round the
clock. Is it wrong to live in a nice home?” An oft told story involved
his car being stopped on Beach Road by poor fisherfolk who took him
to a nearby slum. There he gave emergency treatment to a pregnant
woman who was bleeding excessively. Refusing to take the ten rupees
proffered by her husband, Dr Rangachari gave him Rs. 100 to spend
on mother and child. |
| Yet another beneficiary of Dr Rangachari’s kindness
was a little boy he treated for typhoid, whom he gave a rupee coin
everyday during his illness. The patient went on to become a well
known neuro surgeon—Dr V Balasubramaniam of Ranga Nursing Home, an
institution named after his benefactor. |
| The Rolls Royce was not the only luxury Dr Rangachari
possessed. He was perhaps the ‘first flying doctor’ of the country,
travelling by his own aircraft to visit patients in all parts of the
country. |
| Dr Rangachari’s end came in April 1934 during a
typhoid epidemic that swept through Madras. Going round the city,
tirelessly attending to patients, the doctor succumbed to the disease
himself at the age of 52. |
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