HOMAGE TO SHANTA BY E-TOUCH

  

Dr. V. Shanta (Born - 11/3/1927- Died - 19/1/2021) had left her mortal body at the age of 93 years and had dedicated her entire life to the cancer patients till her death.

To make herself available to the patients literally 24 X 7 hours, she had preferred to live in a small room at the Cancer Institute itself and hence she was a Karma Yogi in the true sense of the word.

Further she preferred to be single for which she reasoned “If you are a dedicated doctor, marriage is a hindrance. You cannot give everything to one, if you have another.”

When she was asked her personal life and hobbies, she smiled to the reporter and drew a zero several times in the air !

She hailed from a family of scientists like two eminent Nobel Laureates in physics – Dr. C.V.Raman and Professor S. Chandrasekharan. 

An alumnus of the Madras Medical College, she joined the Cancer Institute founded by Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy – one of the first women graduates of medicine in India and a legislator. Dr Muthulakshmi’s son Dr S Krishnamurthy joined the institute after completing medicine in the US. Along with him, Dr Shanta played an important role in the development of the Adyar Cancer Institute (WIA – Women’s Indian Association) from a cottage hospital of 12 beds to a major comprehensive cancer centre of repute.

Dr. Shanta was on the World Health Organisation Advisory Committee on Cancer till March 2005. She was also convener of the State Advisory Board on Cancer, and has been member of many ICMR committees.

A decade ago, the Centre appointed Shanta as a member of a committee set up to address the concerns of people living in and around the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu. On December 28, 2020, she participated in the launch of Tamil Nadu Cancer Registry Project Report 2020, a collaborative study by Cancer Institute and Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Throughout her life, she remained an inspiration to many other doctors and other healthcare providers and severed on national and international committees of health. She won several awards, including Ramon Magsaysay Award and the Padma Vibhushan.

Shanta did not want any final rituals to be performed and wished that her ashes should be sprinkled all over the institute.

E-Touch pays its obeisance to the great dedicated doctor  with a wreath  as a mark of  our homage.