Thank you to Members of Lion’s club of central Madras for my Helping Hand Award – A Mahalingam, Sankara Nethralaya,Chennai

Dear Sir / Madam,

Greetings from Sankara Nethralaya Academy !

I would at the outset like to express my sincere thanks to the Lion’s club of central Madras, the organizers of this momentous function – United Nations Day celebrations yesterday with the chief Guest Dr. Stefan Weckbach, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany.

There cannot be a greater honour than being honoured as a‘Helping Hand’ by the world’s largest and most munificent helping hand the ‘Lions club’ and today the joy is doubled when the honour is being bestowed by its illustrious chapter the ‘Lion’s club of central Madras’ who have been members of the extended Sankara Nethralaya family and one of its strongest supporters and well-wishers since its inception.

I would like to highlight today that acquisition and dissemination of knowledge was a holy command and divine will of our patron Saint the Sankaracharya of Kanchi to whom we owe our inception and growth, it is one of the founding pillars of Sankara Nethralaya.

Our founder and Chairman Emeritus and chief mentor of us has always emphasized his belief in enlightening, empowering and enablingthrough the transfer of knowledge and that the only way to take the good work of spreading eye care forward is by building an army of qualified, knowledgeable and dedicated personnel. The Vidyasagar Institute of Biomedical sciences, the Elite school of optometry, the CU shah Post graduate training center and the Sankara Nethralaya Academy are manifestations of his firm belief and deep conviction towards the cause of education.

It is most fulfilling to note that after 3 decades of its inception Sankara Nethralaya has stood up to its promise of acquiring and disseminating knowledge and fulfilling the holy command of the Sage of Kanchi. I am proud to say that today SN is not only looked upon as a world class eye care centre delivering eye care with passion and a personal touch but also a knowledge centre and seat of learning. I consider it a rare privilege to have had the opportunity to play a humble role in the academic endeavors of this great institution.

I take this opportunity to thank my HOD and Registrar of the SN academy Ms Akila Ganesan for her unstinted support and guidance in discharging my duties as the ‘Academic officer’ and my gratitude to SN management - Chairman and our Guru and leading light in all our endavours, Dr S S B - Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya.

I would also like to express my deep gratitude to the Lion’s club of central Madras and its Chairman- Projects Lion SN.Harinaryanan for identifying and acknowledging Sankara Nethralaya’s interesting and innovative contribution to spreading education and imparting strong paramedical skills and my humble role and contribution to it.

I assure that this high recognition would be a great encouragement to me and my colleagues to take the institution to glorious heights in the field of education.

Thanking you

Yours Sincerely

A Mahalingam