It was a programme based on the Ramayana by a talented group in the retirement community where I live. As part of the programme, I saw a gentleman giving a brief extempore discourse on Rama, quoting from the scriptures, and singing a couple of verses as part of his discourse. Unlike the popular concept of the person giving religious discourse dressed in traditional attire, the gentleman was wearing a trouser with tucked in half shirt with just a spot of Vermilion and Chandan on his forehead. I was intrigued. I found out that he was Dr Navaneethakrishnan, one of the residents of Nana Nani, Phase 4 ( NNP4)
I have come
across many senior citizens, post-retirement, pursuing their passions for
writing. Singing, drawing, dancing and many other creative pursuits. Some
dedicate their services to voluntary organisations or even volunteer their
services to their favourite temples. Some even go totally spiritual, learning
the Vedas, Sanskrit, Bhagavad Gita and many such spiritually oriented
activities. Dr Navaneethakrishnan in Nana Nani, Phase 4 (NNP4) stands apart
from these people. I decided to explore his life story.
Born in
Madurai in 1942, Doctor was the seventh child in a family of seven brothers and
three sisters. His father, Shanmugham Pillai, was a wealthy landowner with a
charitable disposition. He was so popular for his generosity that two streets –
1st Street and 2nd Street – in the area where he lived in
West Madurai were named after him. He passed away when
Doctor Navaneethan was in the sixth standard, and it was his eldest
brother, Rajagopal known as Kudai Veedu Rajagopal, a famous lawyer, who brought
him up in life. He studied in two local schools in Madurai and later did
his Intermediate at the American College in Madurai. Though he had no interest
in pursuing medicine as a career, it was his brother, impressed by his marks in
the intermediate examination, who persuaded him to do it and guided him at
every stage, until he got his admission to the MBBS course.
After
earning his MBBS from Government Madurai Medical College in 1965, he did a
truncated Master of Surgery (MS) course and got trained in plastic and thoracic
surgery before specialising in gastroenterology at Madurai Medical College,
focusing on surgical gastroenterology. Over time, he mastered laparoscopy,
endoscopy, colonoscopy — all camera‑guided techniques that transformed
treatment.
He joined
the Tamil Nadu government health service in 1967 as an Assistant surgeon serving across the
state, gaining invaluable exposure to community health. He retired as Professor
of Surgery in 1995.
In 1971, he
married Nageshwari, who was then pursuing the MBBS course. Her
father, Dr Shankar Ram, was running a nursing home in Alleppey and was a
well-known doctor there. After marriage, she moved to Madurai and, over a
period of time, Dr.Nageshwari became a well-known obstetrician and
gynaecologist in Madurai.
After
retirement from government service in 1995, Dr Navaneethan joined Avvai Janaki
Hospital (AJS) in Madurai, started by his brother in 1975 to provide free or
heavily subsidised medical services, including surgeries to poor people living
in the neighbourhood of their palatial home. In 1982, his father-in-law decided
to close shop in Alleppey and joined AJS as a partner. Doctor Navaneethan used
to visit this hospital as a consultant when he was in service, but became a
full-time employee in 1995.
Between 1975
and 2020, when he decided to retire from his profession, he had performed more
than 30,000 surgeries, including laparoscopic surgeries and liver, pancreatic
and kidney surgeries, in addition to 1,20,000 endoscopies, both diagnostic and
therapeutic, with a focus on poor patients. Among the scores of Awards and
recognitions he has won during his long career, he values the Award for
Meritorious Service given to him by the Indian Medical Association in 1987.
After the
hospital was sold in 2012, outpatient services continued until 2021, in the
name of Avvai Janaki Clinic. Even during the period of the pandemic, the clinic
was active in taking care of the patients in the neighbourhood, totally free or
at heavily subsidised fees. It was around this time that the serious health
issues of his wife made him decide to completely retire from active service and
look for a more relaxed, stress-free life outside Madurai. It was his
sister-in-law Anandhi, who was already well settled in Nana Nani Phase 4
since 2017, who persuaded the couple to move to Coimbatore and start a new
life.
A doctor who
used to work from morning 7.30 am to late at night suddenly found himself
having a lot of free time. While he continues to spend time daily reading
medical journals, making notes, and attending conferences online and offline to
stay current, he developed a special interest in reading devotional literature
for the first time in his life.
When I asked
him if there was any indication of his interest in devotional literature during
his student days or his ability to give ex-tempore talks, he said , “I had an
aunt who served in an Ashram. She never married but totally devoted herself to
a spiritual life as a devotee of Yoganantha Swami and attained yoga samadhi
next to him in the Ashram. That must have influenced me to think of spiritual
pursuits after retirement. As regards my ability to give extempore talks, I owe
it to my Tamil teacher in the school who would encourage me to participate in
elocution competitions and guided me at every stage of the preparations. He was
the person who taught me the importance of giving a talk interspersed with
quotes from scriptures. This training helped me even in my career as a
professor of medicine”
Since
settling in Nana Nani in 2021, he has found time to immerse himself in Tamil
literature like Thevaram ( a collection of poems on Lord Siva by several Tamil
saints), Tiruppavai ( songs on Perumal – Lord of Tirupathi) by poet /saint Andal),
Thiruppugazh @ Divine Glory consisting of lyrics on Lord Muruga ( popular
as Karthikeya in the North) and Thirumandiram – exposition of
Shaiva Agamas in Tamil. Beyond gaining knowledge of these
scriptures, his lifelong habit of note‑taking enriches his study, enabling him
to speak with clarity on spiritual topics at public gatherings.
" I am
blessed with a good memory. That helps, in giving extempore lectures,
though I do meticulously prepare for every lecture," he said.
His first
devotional talk was in 2024, Mrs Malliga Sekar, a veteran of
religious discourses in the community, asked him to give a brief talk focusing
on the history of Madurai Meenakshi Temple at a programme where she was giving
a discourse on the goddess Meenakshi. The success of this effort saw him being
invited to give a talk on Rama, Muruga, Guruvayurappan ( Lord Krishna).
Recently he gave an engrossing and informative talk on the significance of the
two words, “ Thiruneerum Aintheluthum” (Nama Sivaya), which was highly
appreciated by the audience. He is currently working on lectures on Rudraksham
– a sacred five-faced bead representing Lord Shiva and life history of
Pattinathar Swami, a revered 10th Century Tamil mystic poet and
Shaivite saint. He has already memorized
several songs from Pattinathar and Thirumandiram.
His new love
for devotional literatures is in addition to providing consultations three days a week at
Shanti Social Services Charity Hospital
in Singanallur in Coimbatore. On other days, he practices yoga for nearly an
hour to maintain fitness. He is also popular among the residents in NNP4 as a
doctor who can be approached by any resident for free advice and consultation
at any time of the day. A man with a charitable heart, a trait inherited from
his father, he also co-sponsors many religious events in the community.
Dr Navaneethakrishnan
is an outstanding example of a senior citizen who thinks out of the box to
pursue a new interest in life and makes a success of it. Proving once again, that
age is no barrier for pursuing old or
new passions in life.
