Dr. Ramamurthy hails from the town of Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam, a district in the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu. He is a native of Mudikondan Village in Thiruvarur, another such district.
As a young man, Ramamurthy grew up as part of a poor farming family. However, he loved academics very much, and used to walk long kilometers to attend school. Not only was he the first literate, educated member of his family, but also the first graduate and first doctor in that family. He graduated in medicine from the Madras Medical College in the year 1958. Immediately after his medical graduation, he left to Mayiladuthurai. He placed his stethoscope around his neck that day and, ever since, he has never relieved himself of his responsibilities as a medical doctor. He works seven days a week, even today, at the age of 81. As most other doctors would be on holiday during Sundays, Dr. Ramamurthy would principally be in his clinic for the sake of patients who might face emergencies. As he comes from a very poor farming background, Ramamurthy was well aware of the financial struggles and helplessness that farmers faced, and was moved by it. He decided to never charge full medical fees from his patients, for he knew they could not afford it. From the poor farmers' perspective, they would rather die of disease than sacrifice their life's savings, toiled in sweat and blood, on expensive medical fees. Even the medicine he prescribes would cost only less than twenty rupees and many times he would give his patients give free samples of medicine. Compassionately thus, he began practice at just Re. 1 per patient. Even then, he never used to accept his fees by hand and, consequently, his patients just left the money on his table. As the decades rolled by, this fee has risen to only Rs. 5 today. Now, he finds even this fee of Rs. 5 to be more than his needs demand—one noonday meal and two steamed rice pancakes "idlies" for supper. His compassion was such that he would give money for transport and food to patients who came to him for treatment from remote villages. When Dr. Ramamurthy first started practicing medicine, he used to wake up at 4'o'clock in the morning, seeing patients from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. non-stop, without a break. Even today he follows the same habit but only now takes a brief noonday health-break. With 57 years of experience as a medical practitioner, Dr. Ramamurthy needs only less than five minutes to ascertain a patient's ailment. Furthermore, he prescribes medicines for not more than two days and, in 90 percent of the cases, does not administer injections to his patients. Simple living and amicable speech is Dr. Ramamurthy's identity. As a doctor and a compassionate human being, he has made the virtues of Love and Compassion the first form of therapy. He is known to wear only a 4-yards dhoti (waistcloth) and baniyan (half-sleeved cotton vest), while he sees his patients, and puts on a shirt only for outdoor trips. Dr. Ramamurthy recollects having met erstwhile Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, K. Kamarajar, and being appreciated by him for his simplicity. He humbly admits feeling greatly honored that someone so influential—and Kamarajar himself well-known for simplicity—must thus appreciate him. He considers the honorary Chief Minister's words more worthy than any other appreciation or award he may be given. With blessings of longevity and vigor from Lord Vaitheeswaran at Mayiladuthurai, Dr. Ramamurthy wishes to continue and extend his love, service and support to as many people as possible in his lifetime. Dear parents and readers. Let us, hence, inspire our children to be compassionate and lead a noble life, for humanity is all about compassion, the noblest of all virtues, morals, and deeds. |
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