To be a practising doctor till a day prior to death, at the ripe old age of 97, is no mean feat. And that too, the treatment was for free with necessary financial assistance to boot, to the absolutely needy! It's nothing but an extraordinary life.
A journey that began for young Lakshmi from the 'Vadakkath tharavadu' in Anakkara, a small village in the district of Palakkad on 24 Oct 1914. The daughter of S Swaminathan, a lawyer and AV Ammukutty, a social worker did her schooling, along with her medical graduation, at Madras. She was able to overcome her mother's reluctance - to send her abroad - to settle down in Singapore and open her clinic for the poor migrant labourers from India, in 1940. Subsequently, she'd met Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the rest is history, when she came to be known as Captain Lakshmi of the women's wing of the INA.
Her life has been chronicled well and it will be like carrying coal to Newcastle, if I were to dwell upon it and hence I desist.
I've been to the Vadakkath tharavadu with my grandfather, years back, as a school kid and remember having been excited when the gracious Captain had planted a peck on my cheeks. There was an elegance and aura about her, which I can feel even now as I punch in these thoughts! But alas, I must admit that I'd never met her subsequently even when she'd come to Delhi, many a time, while I was there and I now regret that it didn't happen putting the entire blame upon myself, for not having taken the initiative.
Her will, offering her body for scientific research, is indeed laudable.
RIP, Dr (Captain) Lakshmi. Your extraordinary life shall be a beacon for the generations to come.
Tailpiece.
One aspect that surprised me, when it had taken place, was when she'd actively campaigned against the Miss World pageant in Bangalore in 1986. I mean, a person so evolved, in my opinion should not have got distracted by trivia.
A journey that began for young Lakshmi from the 'Vadakkath tharavadu' in Anakkara, a small village in the district of Palakkad on 24 Oct 1914. The daughter of S Swaminathan, a lawyer and AV Ammukutty, a social worker did her schooling, along with her medical graduation, at Madras. She was able to overcome her mother's reluctance - to send her abroad - to settle down in Singapore and open her clinic for the poor migrant labourers from India, in 1940. Subsequently, she'd met Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the rest is history, when she came to be known as Captain Lakshmi of the women's wing of the INA.
Her life has been chronicled well and it will be like carrying coal to Newcastle, if I were to dwell upon it and hence I desist.
I've been to the Vadakkath tharavadu with my grandfather, years back, as a school kid and remember having been excited when the gracious Captain had planted a peck on my cheeks. There was an elegance and aura about her, which I can feel even now as I punch in these thoughts! But alas, I must admit that I'd never met her subsequently even when she'd come to Delhi, many a time, while I was there and I now regret that it didn't happen putting the entire blame upon myself, for not having taken the initiative.
Her will, offering her body for scientific research, is indeed laudable.
RIP, Dr (Captain) Lakshmi. Your extraordinary life shall be a beacon for the generations to come.
Tailpiece.
One aspect that surprised me, when it had taken place, was when she'd actively campaigned against the Miss World pageant in Bangalore in 1986. I mean, a person so evolved, in my opinion should not have got distracted by trivia.
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