Neurosurgeon Viswanathan Rajaraman’s death has come as a rude shock to his teachers and colleagues in Chennnai.
“He was a brilliant fellow, and even during his student days, he had a scientific temperament — he was interested in physics, engineering and electronics,” says Dr V. G. Ramesh, who was Viswanathan’s neurosurgery professor at the Government Stanley Medi-cal College.
“Though I was his professor, Viswanathan was more of a friend to me, in the PG class,” says Dr Ramesh.
After his PG, Dr Viswanathan went to the United Kingdom where he got his FRCS degree and also worked for a few years. Then he moved to the US and got involved with cancers of the brain. His wife Mary was his junior at Stanley.
“Rajaram was a very innovative doctor — he invented non-invasive test equipment — to check the functioning of ventricular shunts during his college days, for which the National Research development Council gave him an award. It was a sum of Rs 30,000 back then itself, and he received it from the President of India,” recollects Dr V.G. Ramesh, who was Vishwanathan’s neurosurgery professor at the Government Stanley Medical College.
The surgeon apparently made it a point to keep in touch with the friends back in his hometown, and used to extend generous invitations everytime someone from India visited the US.
“I visited him last in October 2009. His house was full of small furniture and knick knacks from Chennai — he wanted to surround himself with things from his country, Dr V. Sundar said.
“Whenever he came to Chennai, once in two or three years, he would make it a point to call and meet up. The accident is extremely unfortunate , his death is a huge loss to the medical profession,” added an aggrieved Dr V. Sunder, head of department of neurosurgery at Madras Medical College, and Vishwanathan’s classmate from Stanley.
