Dr Nageshwar chased a killer, honored 'Good Citizens Award'

Dr Vyakarnam Nageshwar has been named for this year’s Good Citizens Award by the Cyberabad Police.

The allergy expert from Warangal won the salute because last week, he chased a truck driver from the National Highway down into the fields and handed him over to the Ghatkesar police. The driver had been speeding away after knocking down a kid, who was crossing a road in Nalgonda.

Even after bagging the honour, Dr Nageshwar doesn’t underplay the laxity showed by the cops. “I held the driver hostage for 40 minutes. I dialled the control room so many times. But every single time, I had to repeat myself. Then I called up the Cyberabad police commissioner and they sprang into action.”

But this isn’t the first time that the owner of Aswini Hospitals in Warangal rose up to the occasion. Or, yelled at the authorities.
In 2006, when 300 medical students of the Pondicherry Central University, including himself, were not issued certificates after seven months of their results, he shot a letter to then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. In two weeks, he got the certificate, had the Vice- Chancellor transferred and registrar sacked.

Four years later, he brought a Delhi-bound train to a halt mid-way. Because the AC in his bogey wasn’t working.

The 39-year-old, who also runs a clinic in Hyderabad and visits it every two weeks, has endless such tales to his credit. He says, “When we buy a car, we make every effort to keep it safe and running. Because we own it. Similarly, I am a citizen of India, I own my country. If there’s something wrong with my country, I will fight for it. Just saying ‘I love my nation’ isn’t enough.”

Besides honours from the state, Dr Nageshwar has also received a note of blessings sent personally by the Pope Benedict XVL from Vatican City for attending 5,000-plus cases of HIV+patients at St. Joseph’s Care Centre while he was still studying. He is also the first doctor in the state to enter the Guinness Book of Records for rendering medical services to 1.6 lakh patients for a philanthropic cause in the year 2009.

Quite naturally, political parties have been following his works. In the past, the vigilante doctor has had offers from many parties. But he’s refused them all. “I want people to know that power doesn’t come by joining a party. You can make a difference even as a common man,” says Dr Nageshwar.