The picture above of Dr V.I.Mathen, a former Director of Christian Medical College, Vellore speaking at the governing council of the College at the Senate hall, when he was the secretary of the council, is the oldest photograph of him that I have. That was in the late nineteen eighty. I got to experience the versatile skills and foresight he carried during his presentations in the council meetings.
He began his life at the Christian Medical College, Vellore as a medical student, going on to have an illustrious clinical, academic and research journey with about twenty five years in different administrative responsibilities at the Gastroenterology department, and as a Council secretary, Medical Superintendent and Director.
His contribution to lift the status of gastroenterology to a centre of excellence in clinical service, research and training in CMC was seminal. It was through his initiative the Welcome Laboratory was established and an endowment fund created to support a few professionals, to free the institution of the burden of supporting them.
His contribution in preparation for the centenary year was by starting five speciality services at CMC Vellore- Haematology, Clinical Virology, Reproductive Medicine, Neontology and Developmental Paediatrics.
It was through his initiative a separate endowment fund was created in the centenary year to draw from its interest every year a good sum of money to support patients financially, living in the Vellore town, who needed higher speciality services.
There were some unusual story lines about him during his illustrious years at the Christian Medical College. It was he, who drove Dr L.B.M. Joseph, the then director of CMC Vellore in 1975, to Chennai, by making detours to avoid police arresting Dr Joseph, in the thick of staff strike in 1975, before an anticipatory bail was granted to him. Dr Mathan was again at the wheel on 13th March from midnight to take Dr Joseph to meet the Home minister of India in the governor's residence in Chennai. It was at that meeting he and Dr KV Mathai came to know that the Prime minister in the cabinet meeting on the previous day, directed the home minster to ask the chief minister of Tamil Nadu to instruct the labour union affiliated to the Chief minister's party, to call off the strike. Accordingly, on 15th of March 1975, the strike that last about ten weeks was called off. That happened fifty years ago.
I recall an accidental meeting with this chief minister of Tamil Nadu at a customary reception in the Governor's residence on the Independence Day in 1987. After having been out of power for ten years his party was re-elected, in an election held few weeks ago. The press was interviewing him on his political wilderness of ten years. I overheard the chief minister mentioning that he regretted the way he handled the strike related matters of CMC in 1975.
Dr V.I.Mathen was the legal liaison officer at CMC ever since CMC had to approach the honourable high court at Chennai and the Supreme Court in Delhi, when CMC needed autonomy for its selection of students through its interview system or needed ruling not to treat the hospital as an industry but as an area of service essential to run a Medical College. I remember the legal council of CMC at Chennai, mentioning to me once that 'Dr Mathan gives us the line of arguments and we present them at the court. We won most of the cases' ! What a tribute to his legal wisdom!
The book above, authored by him, currently available in Amazon, that he was working on for about five years, is likely to be a resource of information and insights about the story of CMC Vellore thus far, from the late nineteen eighties.
Let me recall two encounters with Dr Mathan that gave me an insight about his brilliant mind and a feeling heart that he carried within.
The first was when I was asked to be in a committee by the CMC council, with him and late Dr K.C.Mammen to formulate a policy for CMC Vellore on Medical termination of pregnancy in 1988. On a special request, I happened to share the manuscript I had written to publish the book, 'Let me Live, an alternative to abortion' with the director of CMC Vellore, Dr L.B.M.Joseph. It was Dr Joseph who invited me to be part of the committee. It was during the deliberations of the committee, I came to get a glance of the brilliant thinking and negotiating skills of Dr. Mathan. He could read between lines and find a sound and middle path approach rather than being one sided.
The second was in the floor of the governing council meetings probably in1990. Having got to know about the distress of residents in training, not having residential accommodation in the hospital campus, married couples lived away from the hospital campus. There were occasions when couples would meet one another after two or three days when they were on-call duty. I pleaded for an urgent approach to allocate funds to build a residential accommodation in the hospital campus for residents in training. Dr Mathan was the medical Superintendent at that time. He sounded helpless to find funds when there were several pressing needs to upgrade technology, acquire equipment and offer better patient care facility. I was not comfortable with that position and responded to his remarks to state that the wellness of the residents when taken care of, CMC would be preparing its own faculty for the future. This seemed to make him open to consider the need and invited me to his office for a conversation in the afternoon. It was during that conversation I sensed his feeling heart. When he heard stories of several residents, and some mothers not being able to breast feed their babies, while at work in the hospital due to the distance of their home, Dr Mathan said to me, 'We will find a way forward'. At the next budget meeting of the council, he had a proposal to build a residential block for residents. A response of a feeling heart for residents and their families ! The residential block was completed in 1998. At the dedication of the residential block, he recollected the conversation both of us had, which initiated the planning for the residential block. I had by then joined the faculty of CMC in February 1997 to start the Developmental Paediatrics Unit through a Memorandum of Understanding between ASHIRVAD and CMC Vellore.
I look forward to read the book, To the seventh Generation and feel refreshed by stories beneath the surface of the many historical events that Dr Mathan was part of during his life time of service at CMC Vellore.
The last time that I spoke to him on the phone, he was in the finishing stage of the book.
Dr Mathan joins the list of the distinguished retired professors from CMC who wrote book to share their biography- Dr Jacob Chandy, Dr L.B.M Jospeh and Dr C.K.Job.
Anna and I have grateful recollections of Dr Mathan and Dr Ms Mini Mathan. In an interview with them in 1999, they told us about the ways they took forward the research in clinical gastroenterology and gastroenterological pathology. It was for the first time in any medical college in India, an electron microscope was available for use in tissue diagnosis. It was Dr Mini Mathan who was the pioneer in that direction. I remember Dr Mathan saying in that interview, 'Mini does the research and publishes papers and he travels to talk about the research in conferences and meetings'!
Anna and I send this flower bunch from the Big Bungalow garden of the Christian Medical College Vellore, as a symbol of our regards and gratitude to Dr Mathan for the book that he published, narrating his story of years at CMC !
M.C.Mathew(text and with two photos from CMC web site)
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