25th Anniversary of the Developmental Paediatrics Unit, CMC Vellore

Anna and I were at cross roads by 1994 after having been  at Chennai pursuing the development of ASHIRVAD Child Development Centre from 1983. The  facility had invited the attention of the  academic community as a resource in developing perspectives in child development and rehabilitation. There were open doors of opportunities to find a future following the invitation from the Institute of Neurology, Madras Medical College in 1994 to develop it into an academic unit. The opening at the Institute of  Child Health, Chennai to offer teaching and training input for post graduate trainees in child health  looked promising. 

It was at this juncture Dr William Cutting from Edinburgh visited us and raised the a question, 'Will it not be better for ASHIRVAD to partner with CMC Vellore to start an academic Unit of Developmental Paediatrics'! No such department of Developmental Paediatrics existed in any Medical College in India at that time. He having shared this idea with Dr V.I.Mathan, the Medical Superintendent of CMC Vellore, brought back message of encouragement about CMC being open to look into this prospects. 

We stayed at this cross road for over two years, wondering whether to enhance our services at Chennai or move to CMC Vellore. 

A chance meeting with Dr. V.I.Mathan in 1995, who by them had become the director of CMC raised this issue when I met him during the governing Council meeting of CMC Vellore. He proposed that ASHIRVAD draws up a Memorandum of Association with CMC Vellore and establish a Developmental Paediatrics Unit at CMC Vellore by incorporating its Child Development Centre at Chennai. 

Between then and  January 1997 discussions proceeded by  CMC Vellore proposing in its governing council meeting in January 1997 to establish a partnership activity between CMC Vellore and ASHIRVAD to start the Developmental Paediatrics Unit. Dr A.K.Tharien who was the chairman of the board of Trustees of ASHIRVAD, who was also the member of the governing Council of CMC Vellore fostered this transition well. 

Following that, we transferred all the facilities of the ASHIRVAD Child Development Centre to begin the Developmental Paediatrics Unit on 24th February, 1997.

It is now 25 years since that day. 

 

When I returned to work last week after a week of break, I was greeted with the above collection of candles made in the Developmental Paediatrics department by the team who had a respite from the regular work due to the third wave of COVID. They were preparing for Easter Cheer in April when all the hand made articles would be presented to raise funds to support families who need subsidised care. 

When I stood around this collection of candles, I felt that those candles were memorials of the years of the Developmental Paediatrics Unit of CMC Vellore. 

Between 1997 and 2008 when I retired from CMC Vellore the Developmental Paediatrics Unit had developed training facility with award of post-doctoral Fellowship and PhD for Paediatricians and  psychologists. It had taken roots as an academic unit and service facility with some distinctions to its credit nationally and internationally. 

As I watched this common Egret in the photo below, flew past me early in the morning two days back, while watching the bird movements in our garden,  I was taken back to the years between 1997 and 2008 when Anna and I spent some defining years at CMC Vellore. 

Anna after her post graduate training went on to have a distinguished career in Pharmacology. While at CMC Vellore she became the co-ordinator of Continuing Medical Education department and facilitator for the Medical Education Unit. She became the founding editor of the Continuning Medical Education journal. While at the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences and lately at MOSC Medical College she pursued active involvement in supporting medical students in research. At the MOSC Medical College she became the founding co-ordinator of the Research Unit. It is amazing to see how Anna continues her editorial and research interests with active involvement in bringing out publications of ASHIRVAD in connection with its 40th anniversary in 2023. Apart from this Anna oversees all the formal matters pertaining to ASHIRVAD trust in relating to the government and financial planning and accounting. 

As for me the years at the developmental Paediatrics Unit at CMC was truly fulfilling. Two of the trainees in the first post-doctoral programme, Dr Samuel Oommen and Dr Been Koshy stayed back in the department to give it leadership since then. They both have been engaged in taking the department to new horizons in training, research and services for children. Since then the time at PIMS Pondicherry and  MOSC, Kolencherry now have been years to consolidate and conclude the professional components of my vocation. I am waiting for a former colleague to return in September 2022 after her training in Neurology to lead the department. I was engaged in pursuing a call to live in an integrating way. The conversations and involvements to develop the theme of Life, Living and Learning still occupies a good bit of my attention. 

This Egret is  on its way to find its destination for the day! Its readiness to fly and find its direction for the day fascinated me. It would find its feed and its companions during the day. That is the certainty with which it is on its flight. 

Life is all about this movement from stability to vulnerability!

During this movement from more stable to less stable situations, the recollection of the past helps to draw inspiration from the surprising experiences in life. 

Having been given an opportunity to begin the Developmental Paediatrics Unit at CMC Vellore was a big Surprise in our lives. It was no where in our horizon of thinking. 

Even when one gets older, it is the same openness to embrace surprising experiences, which stands out as a call in our lives!

The willingness to move from where we are to a new opportunity and opening is a novel dimension in living. 

When we were made willing to move from the known at Chennai to the unknown at CMC Vellore, Anna and were blessed with new experiences of joy and contentment. 

Moving is the way to live in the present and find a vocation in the new opportunity!

We celebrate the 25 the year of the Developmental Paediatrics Unit at CMC Vellore and recollect all those who facilitated its formation. 

Annie, Premila, and Shekhar who moved with us from ASHIRVAD Child Development Centre at Chennai to CMC Vellore have been the faithful companions who walked with us in this journey to make the Developmental Paediatrics Unit at CMC Vellore what it is today!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)