A few days ago, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College (TMC), the oldest such institution in the southern State, which was formally opened in 1951.
The TMC and its hospital wing, which was set up in the same campus three years later in 1954, have a great historical relevance. Together, the facility now is known as the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram.
According to records, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, inaugurated both the TMC and its hospital wing. And the historical irony about it is that the person who inaugurated the facility, Mr. Nehru, became its first patient.
According to an old book, the Prime Minister suffered a minor injury after his finger got accidently stuck in the metal grill of the building. He was given an immediate treatment under the guidance of eminent surgeon late R. Kesavan Nair, who was also the founding superintendent of the medical college and hospital.
“Thus, Mr. Nehru became the first patient of the hospital and Dr. Kesavan Nair became the first doctor who provided treatment there,” the Malayalam book said.
Titled “Dr. Kesavan Nair: Vaidyasastrathile Ithihasam” (The legend of Medical Sciences), the book, compiled as a memoir of the late medical exponent, also has the picture of Nehru inaugurating the facility.
The ruler of erstwhile Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, who had donated ₹4 lakh rupees for setting up the medical college, also could be seen standing along with the Prime Minister in the photograph clicked at the function.
Veteran neurologist and medical historian K. Rajasekharan Nair said a large number of people had gathered at Ulloor, where the hospital is located, to get a glimpse of Mr. Nehru on the inaugural day.
One among the several renowned disciples of Dr. Kesavan Nair, Dr. Rajasekharan still has vivid memories of his teacher’s detailed account about the historic day.
“(Dr. Kesavan) Nair was one of the few persons who had toiled hard to make the medical college a reality here. As per his words, a large number of people thronged the hospital premises to see Nehru who was very popular among common people,” he told PTI.
Several locals, who gathered there, tried to greet him and give him a hand shake and the Prime Minister also didn’t show any reluctance to accept their warmth. Though he was the PM, the security presence was not much then, and in the rush, his fingers might have suffered the minor wound, Dr. Rajasekharan said.
Dr. Kesavan Nair attended the “patient” immediately and dressed the wound, the octogenarian medical doctor added.
“I was just 10 or 11 years old when the incident occurred. Though I really wanted to take part in the function, I could not go, as Ulloor was considered a far away place at that time. But, I got the chance to study under Dr. Kesavan Nair and learn about these incidents from him in the later years,” he said.
After all these years, the MCH is now considered as one of the largest multi-specialty treatment centres in the region providing affordable and comprehensive healthcare.
The sprawling MCH campus also houses a number of significant institutions including the colleges of nursing and pharmaceutical sciences, the Sree Chithira Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, the Regional Cancer Centre( RCC), and so on.
The 70th anniversary celebrations of the TMC was inaugurated on August 26.
