When you move to a new city, you are no longer surrounded by your friends, your old neighbourhood or your favourite hangouts.
But the experience was rather pleasant for Padma Shri Dr Lavu Narendranath when he moved to Hyderabad from Ongole in 1982. The orthopaedic doctor was posted at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) and has been working in the city ever since.
Narendranath also met the love of his life in the city
“People find it difficult to settle down in a new city, but people in Hyderabad are so welcoming. They helped me find accommodation and sent me food in the initial days. People are so friendly that I never felt like a stranger,” says Narendranath, who worked along with A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in a project to develop a low-weight prosthetic limb for polio-affected patients.
Narendranath also met the love of his life in the city. His wife, Dr Anuradha, a gynecologist and owner of a test tube baby centre, moved to Hyderabad from Delhi. “We met here and got married. We could both speak Hindi well, so it was easy to converse with people and we never felt out of place. That’s one of the best things about Hyderabad; there are so many languages, so many different religions and cultures in one place,” says Narendranath.
The other thing he loves about the city is the weather. However, now the weather has taken a beating and the city has become a concrete jungle, he admits.
“I like how Hyderabadis enjoy simple things in life and how grateful they are. A lot of patients I’ve treated come back to thank me and recollect old memories. That is the best feeling for any doctor,” he adds.
The proud Hyderabadi says that moving to the city was one of the best things that happened to him.
