Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Mar 20: Family members, friends and well wishers of Pangal Sethu Madhava Rao and Sumati Pangal got together at Subramanya Sadan, here, on Sunday, March 18 at 12.30 pm to the accompaniment of veena recital programme by celebrated veena exponent Vidhwan Aruna Kumari, who is a visually impaired artiste who has for the past many years enthralled the music lovers all around the Karnataka state and beyond.

Immediately after a delightful music session, the renowned artiste was felicitated by Pangala Sethu Madhava Rao and wife Sumati, who turned 90 and 80 years respectively. The couple honoured Aruna Kumari with shawl, fruits and a gift of appreciation.

For people who know the couple, it is an unique way of celebration for they have all along believed in enlightening the lives of others, many visually impaired people in particular as part of their own celebration over the past 50 years. Laxman Bhat, a tabla artiste, also a visually impaired artiste who accompanied Aruna Kumari in the musical performance was felicitated by the couple.

It was a joyful occasion for Pandurang Shanbaug, another visually impaired person, who greeted the couple through emotion filled words and narrated how the couple became part of his life by helping him get a decent job. He also thanked the couple for sending him for training in ‘Braile’ script in Mumbai. He called upon his wife and children with a grateful heart to seek blessings from a visionary couple.

Those who know this couple closely are aware of their innumerous works of charity over the past 60 years. Sethu Madhava Rao, presently honourary president of South Kanara Association of the visually impaired is in the thick of protecting, enhancing and restoring the eyesight to thousands of poor people in South India.

Rao, who served in Madras Presidency as a teacher and at different government colleges in Mangalore and Ananthapur, before joining Karnataka Regional Engineering College (now NITK) at Surathkal and stayed on in the position of head of the department of English till his retirement in 1983.

He is ably supported by his wife, Sumathi Pangal, who has carved out a niche for herself in the fields of interior decoration, flower arrangement, public speaking, writing, embossing, carving and dramatics. The couple now works tirelessly for the visually impaired. Sumathi has volunteered herself as honorary joint secretary.

The association has much to celebrate in terms of its achievements over the past 25 years. It started modestly by distributing vitamin tablets to children and medicines to people with eye sight problems. This was followed by checking eye-sight and distributing person-specific spectacles. Then they started organizing cataract operations, corneal transplant surgery and distributing intra-ocular lenses. Besides the visually impaired have been helped in getting training in crafts, telephone operating, music and mobility as also job placements.

As of today, the association has arranged 54,000 free eye screenings, free medicines for 14,100 poor patients, spectacles for 16,607 people, organized 121 free eye care camps, 2403 cataract operations, vision restored to 23 persons through corneal transplant surgery, 11 persons received mobility and orientation training, training in crafts and telephone operation, scholarships for training in arts and music given to 26 and many people are helped to get jobs in different companies and institutions through the mediation of their own children, family members and friends.

Beyond these statistics, lie certain poignant and heart rendering facts. The association doesn’t have its own premises, for the Pangal couple has never felt the need of one. For them as long as the charity work is carried out as planned, their small apartment at Manasa towers in Bendore and their personal telephone becomes their institution. They strongly believe the word of Helen Keller that ‘although one door is closed for the blind we can still strive to get the light for them through a small window’, i.e. through their association.

The couple's son, Dr Shripati Rao, an acclaimed orthopedic surgeon and dean at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, daughter Shobha, wife of Dr Jagadish conducted the above proceedings which was graced by more than 200 people closely associated with the family.