Anna moves on!

Anna finished her eight years of service at MOSC Medical College on superannuation on 31 December, 2020.

Those years were significant years in her life. She began by helping to organise the Medical Education Unit in the college and give it a direction to help faculty to get oriented. Later she gave leadership to co-ordinate the research activities and establish an Institutional Research Board. The faculty and students got activated into a new mood of clinical research. About 200 hundred students received her mentoring support for their student research projects. Every year about ten or more of them received ICMR student scholarship award. Anna herself authored fifty research articles. She enabled some faculty to complete research and to publish to get their long due promotion. 

The students for the first time in the history of the institution went to attend conferences and to present papers. Their presence in conferences in India and overseas brought reputation to the college as they received awards and prizes.

Anna since having been the head of the department of Pharmacology for three years got actively involved to establish a skill laboratory for students, Museum, upgrade the student record book and introducing interactive teaching and student initiated learning process. Her recent effort was to establish a Competency Based Curriculum in Pharmacology according to the recent requirements of the Medical Council of India. The computer laboratory she established for students to learn by internet surfing has become a resource for students to advance in self-directed learning.

The effort of getting the para-clinical faculty to meet weekly for academic discussion was a good attempt. Although it  could not be sustained, it was a message for the faculty to pursue the purposeful interactive learning. 

The foster student groups she nurtured over the last eight years gave us a close contact with some students. It was a formative experience for some of them.

Anna was keen to offer every support through ASHIRVAD to help the department of Developmental Paediatrics and Child Neurology to stand on its feet financially by feeding into its financial requirements.

I was fascinated by her resolve to develop the competency and skills of other faculty and hand over her position to younger faculty. I watched this transition of roles from her to others taking place in a seamless way. I admire the support of the former deans Dr Radhakrishnan and Dr Rex and their trustful confidence in her intent, interest and ability to initiate the above projects. I wish the current Dean was equally appreciative of her lateral thinking and creative ideas! 

For all those who show the way would have followers and detractors. In case of Anna I feel she was covered with endearing words from many to withstand a few who were not in alignment with her approach to move towards higher standards in academics and teaching methodology.

During the recent eight months, when the teaching and leaning became on-line, it was remarkable to see her co-ordinate it for her department in an admirable way. 

All of this happened because of her persistence and enduring skills. The difficulties were far too much and unforeseen.

I have 'survived' because of her steadfast encouragement to me. I felt like a withering plant sometimes with feeble encouragement from sources I looked upto, while finding the way forward for the future of Developmental Paediatrics and Child Development. I too foresee my term coming to an end. I am not sure if I would have the fortune of leaving the department with the same stability with which Anna was able to leave her department. I may have to live with that regret.

Let me salute Anna for her faithfulness of stewardship. She returned from being a home maker and a mother in waiting for our children, to train herself in pharmacology at the age of 48 years and her last twenty years as a faculty in that discipline at CMC Vellore, PIMS Pondicherry and MOSC, Kolenchery were years of significant pioneering efforts. 

At CMC Vellore, she gave the leadership to the Medical Education Unit, co-ordinated the Continuing Medical Education Department and became the Warden of the Women's hostel for a term. She founded the quarterly journal of Continuing Medical Education which is now an indexed journal with good readership rating. Anna established an annual prize in memory of our daughter Anita Susan Mathew for the best outgoing all-rounder in the Women's hostel of CMC ,Vellore

What is life if one has only some such laurels to talk about. Anna found ways to help about fifty children to complete their school education at Chennai and Vellore by providing the school fees and other essentials. She reached out to women in various situations of need and helped five people to build their houses.

During our time at Chennai, it was Anna who took over the responsibility of overseeing the financial matters of ASHIRVAD which she continues to do so  efficiently even now. It involves conforming to all the requirements of the home ministry, Income-Tax department and other regulatory bodies.

Anna finds time to be engaged with our children and their families. In fact that is one of her passions. During the COVID season she even read to the grandchildren on Zoom almost every week, which was a creative way of keeping in touch with the grandchildren.

I find her meaningfully and creatively occupied whether it be while knitting, kitchen gardening, house keeping or overseeing the garden spread over an acre of land. She has an Acquarium, bird house and Turtle tub to look after. 

Anna reminds me of what it means to live trusting God, pursuing purposeful existence and live a full life. I feel amazed at her enthusiasm and grit. She is an overcomer  of circumstances and does not surrender to pressure or challenges. I am not yet on this plane of existence or orientation in daily living.

I have watcher her grow and live her vocation. Anna inspires me all the time with her resilient spirit. She is caring beyond imagination. Anna is Grace and that is how she lives each day!

Let me end this summary of appreciation with flowers to greet Anna, from a plant in our garden, which she planted and tended. The colour, freshness, and fragrance of these flowers symbolise her life.

The on-line get together the batch of 2018 medical students at MOSC Medical College organised yesterday, to express their gratitude to the on-line teaching Anna provided, during the last eight months, was a special occasion for Anna and teh students. The students lavished on her their affection for her innovative participatory teaching-learning exercise. The students felt that she was mentoring them to develop sound foundations on self directed learning and thinking while learning. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)