An unforgetable personality
He really is quite an unusual man. Calm, unassuming and in his sixties, he is the epitome of confidence, but rarely misses an opportunity to infuse a little humour in his conversation while he checks out his patients. Straight forward and honest, he is the most relaxed doctor I have ever met. That's Doctor T. Vergehese for you. He runs a small practice which he says is sufficient for him to keep going. He is being modest having had rubbed shoulders with no less than the Tengku, President Zakir Hussein, Nehru, Queen Elizabeth, Lee Kuan Yew and African leaders while being the President of the All Malaysian Student Association of India.
The first time I met him was when he came into my office to ask me details of a mutual friend who had recently passed away. I was taken up by his effort to write about this person who had done so much for the Indian community but had not received any credit from the media. He wanted to put this right and wrote an article on the many contributions of the deceased. It was published, I think, but not in a big way.
Through a twist of events, he was appointed as my company's doctor and I began to see him for medical treatment. It has been 10 years now and we have become more than just a patient-doctor relationship, we have become good friends.
What really drew me to him was his genuine interest in treating his patients without looking at costs. One day I saw a number of poorly dressed kids in his clinic and asked the nurse what was going on and she said that he was giving free treatment for these children from a special Home. Then more information became evident, he was also building churches and housing the poor in India, he has trained a large number of Indians to be doctors and nurses also in India. This is his way, he says, of repaying the debt he owed to the Indian Government for providing him with a scholarship for his medical degree in India. He also contributes to the welfare of poor Indians here.
I feel absolutely at home with him. But I have this inbuilt fear for pain, sickness and death. My mind goes ballistic when I have a pain anywhere in my body. I break into cold sweat and my mind goes numb with fear .
Once I had this pain in an akward place and thought the worst. He smiled at me and asked, " What are you afraid off? Death? Is anyone exempt from it?
Funny, but when suddenly confronted with reality, it did not matter so much.
The first time I met him was when he came into my office to ask me details of a mutual friend who had recently passed away. I was taken up by his effort to write about this person who had done so much for the Indian community but had not received any credit from the media. He wanted to put this right and wrote an article on the many contributions of the deceased. It was published, I think, but not in a big way.
Through a twist of events, he was appointed as my company's doctor and I began to see him for medical treatment. It has been 10 years now and we have become more than just a patient-doctor relationship, we have become good friends.
What really drew me to him was his genuine interest in treating his patients without looking at costs. One day I saw a number of poorly dressed kids in his clinic and asked the nurse what was going on and she said that he was giving free treatment for these children from a special Home. Then more information became evident, he was also building churches and housing the poor in India, he has trained a large number of Indians to be doctors and nurses also in India. This is his way, he says, of repaying the debt he owed to the Indian Government for providing him with a scholarship for his medical degree in India. He also contributes to the welfare of poor Indians here.
I feel absolutely at home with him. But I have this inbuilt fear for pain, sickness and death. My mind goes ballistic when I have a pain anywhere in my body. I break into cold sweat and my mind goes numb with fear .
Once I had this pain in an akward place and thought the worst. He smiled at me and asked, " What are you afraid off? Death? Is anyone exempt from it?
Funny, but when suddenly confronted with reality, it did not matter so much.
posted by Dave's Delight | 12:32 AM
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