KOCHI: Giving sight to thousands, Dr Narayana Siva Dasa Raju (Dr NSD Raju), stands tall among healthcare providers in the state. Dr Raju, an ophthalmologist, has performed thousands of eye surgeries free of cost and is a pioneer in the field of Intra Ocular Lens (IOL)surgery. He is also the medical director of NSD Raju Eye Hospital, which will be organising an eye-check up camp at Perumbalam in Alappuzha on October 29.
“I used to be part of the eye care camps back when I had not even specialised. However, it encouraged me to do ophthalmology and now I do my own camps. We do free of cost surgeries for people from low-income families. This has been going on for 37 years and was disrupted only for two years in between because of managerial change,” said Dr Raju. His camps are a screening process where apart from consultation, eligible people are picked up for free surgery.
Dr Raju started his professional career as an ophthalmic surgeon in the government health service in 1979. He is one of the first IOL surgeons in the country and had published his first series of IOL implantations cases way back in 1981 both at the national and international conferences. He is an accomplished phaco surgeon.
A pioneer in ocular anaesthesia, he introduced and popularised peribulbar anaesthesia 25 years ago in Kerala. He is also one of the early phaco surgeons who used topical anaesthesia for Phaco surgery.
A life member of All India Ophthalmological society since 1979, Dr Raju has been active in all the academic, organisational and social activities of AIOS and has served the society in various capacities. He is currently the chairman of AIOS project ‘Diabetic Blindness awareness’ and chairman National IMA Initiative ‘Prevention of Diabetic Blindness in India’.
Dr Raju is the recipient of many awards including the best video award of American Academy of Ophthalmology and TA Alexander Memorial Gold medal. He is also a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive surgery.
A music enthusiast, Dr Raju is also an accomplished singer. He has brought out two CDs as a tribute to Mukesh and also a Malayalam album ‘Oru Sundara Swapnam’ with noted playback singer Sujatha and his wife Manikutty. An ardent lover and self-taught student of Hindustani, he composed and sang the theme song of AIOS which was penned by Dr Rajyavardhan Azad. He is also the president of National Music organization Sangam Kala group Delhi and Mehphil Music Society Kerala.
“When I was a kid there was a movie theatre near my house. The songs from the movies enthralled me, but I didn’t know who the singer was. It was much later that I came to know that those songs were sung by Mukesh,” said Dr Raju.
His wife Manikutty is a Carnatic vocalist. Vitreo-retinal surgeon Dr Biju Raju is his son and his daughter Dr Anju Raju is an anterior segment surgeon and a medical retinal specialist.