When it comes to embracing the latest developments in technology, the Government - both Government of India and all other state Governments - had been very slow. The Governments of Western Countries are far far ahead of us in going hi-tech although many of the software used by them were created by brilliant Indian techies.
In a welcome change, Tamil Nadu Government seems to be making effective use of the technological advancements.
Deputy Chief Minister Mr MK Stalin seems to be the prime mover behind this. The Dy CM himself is an active blogger and takes quick action on the grievances aired by the citizens through comments on his website - http://www.mkstalin.net/
Almost, all the Government departments now have an active, informative websites.
To cap it all, today, I was very glad to find Chennai Corporation on Twitter - http://twitter.com/chennaicorp
However, when it comes to enabling online payments for various services, the Government departments are still lacking. Transport department seems to be the worst in this regard. Hope, the energetic Deputy CM, who has ushered in the hi-tech era in Governance, would bring in lot of welcome changes!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Dead surgeon’s heart is now beating in this patient’s body - Homage to Dr Krishna Gopal
Happened to read this moving story about Dr Krishna Gopal in Calcutta Telegraph. Dr Gopal, a famous cardiac surgeon at Madurai had a fatal fall at his house on Dec 26. When he was declared brain dead, his family decided to donate all his organs.
It is quite surprising why the Tamil media has not accorded due importance to this story!
May his soul rest in peace. Lets pray God to give mental strength to the bereaved family...
http://frontierlifeline.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/organ-donation/
Golden heart in mouth, race saves lives
G.C. SHEKHAR
Chennai, Jan. 1: Dr Krishna Gopal will live not only in the memories of the 400 patients on whom he performed heart surgery but also in the heart of one he could not operate on.
The dead surgeon’s heart is now beating in this patient’s body. Just as his kidneys have saved two more lives.
The transplants were made possible against a tight deadline through a feat of co-ordination — which almost mirrored Hollywood — between four hospitals in three cities and the police of Chennai and Madurai, who cleared the roads to city airports. The state medical authorities did their bit, speedily granting a crucial licence.
The organs were all transplanted last night, after Dr Gopal, 40, had died of head injuries caused by a fall from the terrace of his apartment in Madurai.
The chief cardiac surgeon at Madurai’s Vadamalayan Hospital was declared brain dead on Wednesday after being admitted to the same hospital on December 26. His wife Jeyapriya Gopal, a media co-ordinator with Chennai’s Frontier Lifeline Hospital, immediately decided to donate his organs.
“After keeping him alive through a ventilator for four days, the doctors said there was no brainstem activity. Since my husband had always talked about the merits of organ donation, I knew he would have wanted it this way,” Jeyapriya said.
“So we told the doctors the body should be prepared for harvesting the heart, liver and kidneys. For someone who has performed 400 heart surgeries with a high success rate, there could be no greater tribute than his own heart beating in another patient’s body.”
So a team of doctors flew in from Chennai’s Frontier Lifeline, where Dr Gopal had once worked before joining the Madurai hospital to serve the rural population.
However, Vadamalayan Hospital’s application for an organ transplant licence was still pending. The director of medical services solved the problem by granting it on Wednesday itself.
The Chennai doctors reached Madurai yesterday morning. They began removing the heart at 5.45pm and completed the job in less than an hour, in keeping with airline schedules — a harvested heart has to be transplanted within four hours.
The organ was put in a double-walled, sterile and cooled container — an 18-inch cube-sized box — and rushed to the airport, 12km away, in an ambulance. The police blocked traffic en route for 40 minutes.
At 7.20pm, Paramount Airlines’ Madurai-Chennai flight took off, with a doctor carrying the box as cabin baggage. The flight landed at 8.20, but the hospital was still a 14km drive away through one of Chennai’s busiest roads, bustling with New Year’s Eve traffic.
Chennai police, informed in advance, created a “green corridor”, allowing the ambulance to make it in 30 minutes. At Frontier Lifeline, surgeons had already opened up the patient’s chest and put the recipient (whose identity cannot be revealed) on a heart-lung machine. The transplant was able to meet the deadline.
Creating green traffic corridors for the sake of transplants is common in Chennai.
Dr Gopal’s liver and eyes were found unfit for transplant — they were probably damaged by the fall — but his kidneys were taken out.
Kidneys have a 12-hour transplant deadline. One was driven to another Madurai hospital, Meenakshi Memorial, which already had a functioning transplant unit. The other was put in the same kind of box as the heart and driven to Tirunelveli, where a patient was waiting. Aided by a police escort, the ambulance made the 160km distance in three hours and the organ was transplanted the same night.
In spite of her grief, Jeyapriya personally co-ordinated the entire operation. “Getting the organs transplanted successfully was the only objective at that time. Else, my husband’s gift would not have benefited anyone,” said the mother of a 12-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.
It is quite surprising why the Tamil media has not accorded due importance to this story!
May his soul rest in peace. Lets pray God to give mental strength to the bereaved family...
http://frontierlifeline.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/organ-donation/
Golden heart in mouth, race saves lives
G.C. SHEKHAR
Chennai, Jan. 1: Dr Krishna Gopal will live not only in the memories of the 400 patients on whom he performed heart surgery but also in the heart of one he could not operate on.
The dead surgeon’s heart is now beating in this patient’s body. Just as his kidneys have saved two more lives.
The transplants were made possible against a tight deadline through a feat of co-ordination — which almost mirrored Hollywood — between four hospitals in three cities and the police of Chennai and Madurai, who cleared the roads to city airports. The state medical authorities did their bit, speedily granting a crucial licence.
The organs were all transplanted last night, after Dr Gopal, 40, had died of head injuries caused by a fall from the terrace of his apartment in Madurai.
The chief cardiac surgeon at Madurai’s Vadamalayan Hospital was declared brain dead on Wednesday after being admitted to the same hospital on December 26. His wife Jeyapriya Gopal, a media co-ordinator with Chennai’s Frontier Lifeline Hospital, immediately decided to donate his organs.
“After keeping him alive through a ventilator for four days, the doctors said there was no brainstem activity. Since my husband had always talked about the merits of organ donation, I knew he would have wanted it this way,” Jeyapriya said.
“So we told the doctors the body should be prepared for harvesting the heart, liver and kidneys. For someone who has performed 400 heart surgeries with a high success rate, there could be no greater tribute than his own heart beating in another patient’s body.”
So a team of doctors flew in from Chennai’s Frontier Lifeline, where Dr Gopal had once worked before joining the Madurai hospital to serve the rural population.
However, Vadamalayan Hospital’s application for an organ transplant licence was still pending. The director of medical services solved the problem by granting it on Wednesday itself.
The Chennai doctors reached Madurai yesterday morning. They began removing the heart at 5.45pm and completed the job in less than an hour, in keeping with airline schedules — a harvested heart has to be transplanted within four hours.
The organ was put in a double-walled, sterile and cooled container — an 18-inch cube-sized box — and rushed to the airport, 12km away, in an ambulance. The police blocked traffic en route for 40 minutes.
At 7.20pm, Paramount Airlines’ Madurai-Chennai flight took off, with a doctor carrying the box as cabin baggage. The flight landed at 8.20, but the hospital was still a 14km drive away through one of Chennai’s busiest roads, bustling with New Year’s Eve traffic.
Chennai police, informed in advance, created a “green corridor”, allowing the ambulance to make it in 30 minutes. At Frontier Lifeline, surgeons had already opened up the patient’s chest and put the recipient (whose identity cannot be revealed) on a heart-lung machine. The transplant was able to meet the deadline.
Creating green traffic corridors for the sake of transplants is common in Chennai.
Dr Gopal’s liver and eyes were found unfit for transplant — they were probably damaged by the fall — but his kidneys were taken out.
Kidneys have a 12-hour transplant deadline. One was driven to another Madurai hospital, Meenakshi Memorial, which already had a functioning transplant unit. The other was put in the same kind of box as the heart and driven to Tirunelveli, where a patient was waiting. Aided by a police escort, the ambulance made the 160km distance in three hours and the organ was transplanted the same night.
In spite of her grief, Jeyapriya personally co-ordinated the entire operation. “Getting the organs transplanted successfully was the only objective at that time. Else, my husband’s gift would not have benefited anyone,” said the mother of a 12-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Jesus and 10 Lepers - Learning not to expect gratitude!
During my boyhood days, I used to hear stories from my uncle - my father's elder brother. Most of the stories told by him were based on the Biblical stories for the children. The stories contain very good morals and in fact, most the good qualities I possess, were due to the influence of those stories.
And one such story provided me solace when a hurting incident took place at my native place Porayar in Nagapattinam district two days ago.
First, let me explain the story and then the incident:
During the times of Jesus Christ, leprosy was a terrible disease and lepers had to live outside the towns/villages. One day, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and 10 lepers came on his way. They prayed: "Jesus, have mercy on us!". When Jesus touched them one-by-one, all the 10 lepers were perfectly cured.
Once cured, only one out of the ten came back to Jesus to say "Thank You". Other nine had simply went away without even showing the bare minimum gratitute. They did not even thank Jesus. But, Jesus did not care about them as he did not expect others to remain thankful to him.
What does this story indicate? Nine out of 10 in the world are thankless and ungrateful. If we ever receive some help from others, we must be like the 10th leper who got back to thank Jesus. And if we help others, we must prepare ourselves not to expect gratitude.
Now, coming to the incident:
A man, friend of my uncle, was struggling to maintain his family with his meagre income. He often turned to my uncle for financial help. A few years ago, I happened to help him, which proved to be the turning point for his family. Now, they are well off and I am very happy that a positive change had happened to them.
Two days back, at my native place, when I was standing on the street showing stray cattle to my son, that man happened to pass through in a bicycle. He looked at me profoundly, but did not even utter a word or a smile. For a moment, my mind went back a few years. The very man was standing at my doorsteps seeking that help from me with all politeness and humility. Today, the same man does not even care to give a smile.
I felt terribly hurt. When I conveyed this to my uncle, he quietly asked: "Don't you remember the Jesus and 10 lepers story I told you years ago?. World is full of ungrateful people, but we should just ignore them. Learn not to expect gratitude".
That calmed my mind. I don't bear any grudge against that man. I will help him again, if he were to approach me for something; but, I will do that without expecting gratitude!
And one such story provided me solace when a hurting incident took place at my native place Porayar in Nagapattinam district two days ago.
First, let me explain the story and then the incident:
During the times of Jesus Christ, leprosy was a terrible disease and lepers had to live outside the towns/villages. One day, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and 10 lepers came on his way. They prayed: "Jesus, have mercy on us!". When Jesus touched them one-by-one, all the 10 lepers were perfectly cured.
Once cured, only one out of the ten came back to Jesus to say "Thank You". Other nine had simply went away without even showing the bare minimum gratitute. They did not even thank Jesus. But, Jesus did not care about them as he did not expect others to remain thankful to him.
What does this story indicate? Nine out of 10 in the world are thankless and ungrateful. If we ever receive some help from others, we must be like the 10th leper who got back to thank Jesus. And if we help others, we must prepare ourselves not to expect gratitude.
Now, coming to the incident:
A man, friend of my uncle, was struggling to maintain his family with his meagre income. He often turned to my uncle for financial help. A few years ago, I happened to help him, which proved to be the turning point for his family. Now, they are well off and I am very happy that a positive change had happened to them.
Two days back, at my native place, when I was standing on the street showing stray cattle to my son, that man happened to pass through in a bicycle. He looked at me profoundly, but did not even utter a word or a smile. For a moment, my mind went back a few years. The very man was standing at my doorsteps seeking that help from me with all politeness and humility. Today, the same man does not even care to give a smile.
I felt terribly hurt. When I conveyed this to my uncle, he quietly asked: "Don't you remember the Jesus and 10 lepers story I told you years ago?. World is full of ungrateful people, but we should just ignore them. Learn not to expect gratitude".
That calmed my mind. I don't bear any grudge against that man. I will help him again, if he were to approach me for something; but, I will do that without expecting gratitude!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)