Team Herald
PONDA: Renowned neurosurgeon Dr Premanand Ramani was presented the Gomant Vibhushan Award 2018-19, the highest civilian honour by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at a glittering function organised at the Rajiv Gandhi Kala Mandir, Ponda on Saturday.
The award carrying a citation along with cash was presented to Dr Ramani in the presence of his wife Prathima, Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat, Art & Culture Minister Govind Gaude, Padmabushan Dr Nandkishore Laad, Art & Culture Director Gurudas Pilarnkar and Ashok Parab.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, “A king is honoured and respected only in his territory but person with wisdom is worshipped all over the world and that person is Dr Ramani.”
He said, “Dr Ramani has contributed a lot to neurosurgery through his contribution and I feel proud to honour him with the award as he is one of the renowned neurosurgeons in the world. His name will be recommended to Government of India for Padmabushan Award. Dr Ramani has shown his concern to humanity by organising free medical camps and by conducting free operations for 46 years. People of Goa including me are very much impressed with his love for Goans.”
Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude said, “We pray to God to grant Dr Ramani the best of health to celebrate his 100 years.”
Recalling his days as student, Dr Ramani revealed that discipline, ethics and hard work, during his schooling at Almeida High School, Ponda helped in making his journey successful. Dr Ramani said he never looked at medical profession from commercial point of view but as a medium to serve humanity.
“Humanity is my passion in my medical life. I feel humbled by the love of Goans. I feel this honour is of all Goans,” he said.
He announced that the award money would be utilised for a social cause to treat the patients at Dilasa Centre at Farmagudi.
At an interview with Dr Ajay Vaidya, Dr Ramani said he does not believe in God but visits temples to meet people.
“Many pray to God and visit temples to fulfil their desires and to offer some gift in exchange. I do not visit any temple to pray or bribe God with my demands but I believe in hard work and discipline. Though I don’t believe in God, I believe that a super
natural power keeps a watch on good and evil things and in my life I never committed any disgraceful actions. You (people) are my God. Evils such as caste system should be eliminated. I believe in the spirit of brotherhood which was preached by Swami Vivekananda during his speech in the US,” he said.
Dr Ramani said he plans to organise seminar to guide and educate the youth and the elders as he observed that Goans desire to live a long life with modern medicines but never try to exercise regularly and follow a balanced diet which is must to lead a healthy life.
