I believe appreciations of people should be written while they are still alive, not after they are dead and gone. Hence this humble tribute to the now retired Dr. Shirley Paranavitane, a physician with all the qualities of the legendary 6th century BC Indian physician, Jeevaka.
In these times, when the human qualities of love and compassion have been replaced by unlimited greed for money and power, Dr. Paranavitane stands out as an embodiment of values that have all but disappeared.
His name is a household word around Nugegoda, where he has lived and worked for more than half a century. Such was the power of his benign personality that his patients say that having just a few words with him made them feel better and that they had no further need for medicine.
The first impression for any patient visiting Dr. Paranavitane was the homely atmosphere that prevailed at the doctor’s clinic. It was like visiting the home of the village “vedarala”.
Once, when my son was very ill, I visited the doctor early in the morning. Despite the earliness of the hour, there were patients already waiting to meet the doctor. Among them was a middle-aged woman in an old cloth and jacket. She was seated on the ground. Just then, the doctor emerged from his consultation room, carrying medicine for a child. He saw the woman and asked her what her problem was.
She said her son had fever and had been vomiting for two days and that she could not afford the transport to bring her son to the clinic. The doctor immediately asked his driver to go with the woman and bring her son in his car to the clinic.
Just as a father will somehow make sure he gets to see his children, the doctor would visit his very poor patients – those who lived in slums and could not afford to travel by car or even by bus. This fatherly concern goes a long way towards ensuring the speedy recovery of his patients.
Long years ago my parents would consult the doctor and take me along to see him if I was sick. Then, when it was their turn, my children and grandchildren would go to him. In his years as a medical practitioner, the doctor treated four to five generations in our area.
Dr. Paranavitane had a great love for children. Once, when I was taking the doctor by car to see my father-in-law, we stopped for a break near Panadura. A group of street urchins were playing by the road. The doctor went up to them. He noticed that one of the children had a bulging stomach and drawn eyes. He brought him to the car, examined him closely, and wrote a prescription.
He told the driver to go to a pharmacy and get the medicine. When the medicine arrived, the doctor instructed the sick child’s older brother on how to administer the medicines. He then wished the sick child a speedy recovery. I can still recall the faces of those little children as they gazed at our car until it disappeared into the distance.
Despite his busy professional life, the doctor would visit my elderly mother every day. The doctor’s wife Sheila was a tower of strength, looking after the family and the home in her quiet efficient way and allowing her husband to go about his work without having to worry about domestic matters. Sadly, she passed away recently, leaving a void in the doctor’s life that can never be filled.
Now, living in quiet retirement, the doctor spends his time reading and doing crossword puzzles. He loves the company of spirited young people. It is our good fortune that the doctor has groomed his eldest son to follow in his footsteps.
May the good doctor live many more years in peace and comfort, and may his shining example guide and inspire the medical profession.
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