Chennai: It was not politics as usual for the founder of the PMK Dr S. Ramadoss on Friday when he spent the day catching up with old classmates at Madras Medical College, his alma mater at their 50th reunion. Ramadoss passed out of the college in 1965 and credited the college with giving him some of the best days of his life.
“When I studied here, the college was only the second of its kind in the country and we had some of the best faculty. They would go out of their way to make things easier for us and I will always be indebted to them for making my career as a doctor what it is,” recalled the politician fondly.
Ramadoss also recollected a professor who was a skin specialist in the college, “Dr Thambiah was an exceptional teacher. He would arrive at 7 am and wait for us to come to
class. He continued to teach and practise till the ripe age of 90, which is when he passed away,” added Ramadoss.
Ramadoss also said that he remembers being the first one in his class to get married and therefore claimed to have not been able to have too much fun while studying but one of his batchmates, Dr K.C. Reddy, a neurologist, was quick to correct him by saying he had been the first.
The young 70-plus year olds then went on to share a few giggles on the subject, nudging each other at the thought of a funny memory. While there were a large number of women alumni present which gave of the impression that there had been an equal number of male and women students in class, the batchmates were quick to joke that women students just
happened to live longer than the male students.
When the women doctors were asked about their experiences, Dr Vasanth Valli said that the women had been extremely conservative during the time and that many of them could not even recollect the names of the male students in their class because they would run at the sight of them.
When the alumni were asked if anybody had ever imagined that Dr Ramadoss would go on to spearhead one of the leading parties in the state, a batchmate said that he recalled the doctor as being a quiet and subdued character so the leap into politics came as a surprise to them but they were nevertheless proud of his achievements.
