Dr Subba rao garu or Nellore doctor garu, as he is affectionately called, has been my ideal for a very long time. My memories of him date back to the 1970’s and 80’s. Though the last time I saw him was in 1988, his pristine smile clad in a white dress and his affectionate interactions are fresh in my memory. I was very saddened to learn about the demise of doctor garu. Our family has a special bond with doctor garu’s family and doctor garu has helped me a lot in particular.
My first memory of doctor garu was as a kid in Jillellamudi in 1970’s. Doctor garu’s family (Annapurna akkayya, Sreedhar and Phani) would come to jillellamudi in a white ambassador car. As a kid, I was not only fascinated seeing a white car but also to the fact that they used to interact with us like a family. That is a unique speciality of the Jillellamudi environment which is hard to explain and can only be experienced. Once my sister (Sailaja Vittaldev) fell sick and had a very high fever. Jillellamudi Amma asked us to go to Nellore doctor garu’s house for treatment. Though we reached their house at 3 am in the morning, doctor garu welcomed us with open arms without
getting perturbed. He gave us their air conditioned bedroom to stay while treating
my sister. More than the medicines, his confidence and soothing words brought immediate relief to my mother. Within a couple of days my sister recovered. Doctor garu insisted on us staying with them for an extra week as they were coming to Jillellamudi for Amma’s birthday celebrations. I vividly remember the fun we had as kids staying back for an additional week and that was probably the first time I witnessed a monkey grabbing a banana from my hands!!
When my father (Sri Pannala Radhakrishna Sarma garu) was sick in Tirupati in early 80’s and was admitted to a government hospital, Doctor garu drove down to Tirupati from Nellore to see him personally and ensured that he was given the best care. His affection for us was genuine and his love and respect for my father so pure. As part of my engineering program preparation, I got admitted to a coaching center in Nellore. I stayed at doctor garu’s house for a week before I moved to stay in the coaching center campus. They treated me like their own son and that was where I got to know doctor garu up close and personal. The clinic was always busy and I remember the patients treating him like a God. He would charge about 5 Rs to see the patients and if they did not have the money, he would treat them for free including the medication. I used to go to their house during weekends for a sumptuous lunch or dinner and doctor garu used to talk to me about simplicity and hard work. I cannot find a better karma yogi than him. His compassion for his patients, most of whom were very poor and his unflinching commitment to their seva is something I have witnessed personally.
Back then I had nightmares and I approached him with concern. He spent a good amount of time with me talking about God and devotion and gave me suggestions on keeping the mind relaxed. Towards the end he taught me the famous bedtime Shloka – Ramaskandam Hanumantam and asked me to recite it everyday. My faith in what he told me was very strong and I religiously followed it and regained all the confidence back.
After I got selected into the engineering program, I visited doctor garu to get his blessings and that was the last time I saw him. His advice still reverberates in my mind
– “always remember to work hard and be thankful to god for everything and help poor people in whatever way you can”. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to see him later and I will carry that regret for the rest of my life. His affectionate smile and saintly presence is edged in my memory forever. I want to close my Eulogy to doctor garu by reminiscing this sloka from Bhagavad Gita for which he is such a prime example (6-1)
“anasritah karma-phalam
karyam karmakaroti yah
sa sannyasi ca yogi ca na
niragnir nacakriyah”
“One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work”