The Man, The Myth and The Legend

I remember meeting my Malaysian uncle in 1978. It was India at his home village of Thanjur close to a town called Ariamalum. I recall the hype before he got there. Everyone in the village seemed excited that he was coming. He was celebrity of sorts being the first doctor from the village, I believe. Definitely, the first in our family. My dad came second. I remember when he came grandfather's house, he slept on his cot. To sleep in my grandfather's cot or even touch it was an absolute no, no. But it was the uncle and he slept on the cot.

I realized what kind of man he was and I wasn't sure but I understood something about status (didn't know that word but knew the feeling). Yet, I didn't seem awed by him at all like everyone else was. I couldn't figure out how he was my uncle since he wasn't dad's brother. I never met my aunt or if I did, it never occured to me that she was related to dad's. It never registered that she could marry him and that he is my uncle. He seemed to be another person to me.

Fast forward to 2010, still the same guy with the short, cropped brylcream-style hair at age 84, close to 85. I went to his office which lays in the middle of Chinatown and Indian town. Nearby is this rail for subways. Lot of old buildings with the plaster styles from early 1900's. His building is a three story building. He is an internist practicing since 1953 in Kuala Lumpur. Still works 7 days a week with two half days (Malaysian government! Fix his tiles due to the flood and his building. Its congested. He earned it!). Its a family affair with Bala, Shanti, and Krishnan working for him. His patients for most of his career were Malays and Chinese who suffered injuries during the Japanese occupation of Malaysia. He'll treat anybody with various ailments but he is old school. He believes in exercise therapy and pharmaceutical remedies.

My sister got tore her ACL and was planning to have surgery. Uncle was astonished by her decision to do that. He said that he would treat her knee with a program of "walk and steroids." He is a tough guy but not that rough doctor. He ran an organized practice but some ailments as my former boss would say "rub some dirt on it." I don't think he believed in surgery except when it was absolutely necessary when other methods have failed. With patients, he treated with respect and professionalism. And he saw about hundreds of them on a daily basis. Very meticulous with patient records and knew what drugs to treat each patient. Sometimes, he could do without looking at the chart when the patients came to his clinic

During this trip, I enjoyed talking to him during breakfast. I enjoyed listening to his stories in his days of running track for his medical school, talking about growing up in the village, and mentioning about relatives like dad. He also talked about politics current and matching them with historical perspective. Likewise, he enjoyed talking about religion and is a avid reader literature like Shakespeare. He told dad, he couldn't understand my southern accent but he enjoyed my company.

He would make a great bio of what it took for him to be a doctor. He was friends with the first President of Malaysia, member of the Lions Club, and involvement with Malaysian soccer clubs in the 50's. With every great man comes a great woman and he had that with my aunt. He is the inspiration of our family for success because he showed the way to achieve the goal. Dad and others who became doctors did different things and were different people but Shanmuga Sundaram was the first and always will be. Grandpa knew that to get out of his way.