Lighting a lamp of hope for the visually impaired, through the Vision-Aid center at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai

Dr.(s) Kastoori Iyengar and Rangaprasad (Ranga) Sarangarajan lighting a lamp at Vision-Aid 2022 Annual Event

Vision-Aid, a non-profit based in Lexington, MA, announced the creation of a new "named center" in Chennai, where it partners with India’s leading eye care provider Sankara Nethralaya, to offer a comprehensive range of vision enhancement and rehabilitation services for the visually impaired. The new center "Kamala-Thiruvengada Chari Vision-Aid Resource Center" is located at the Shenoy Nagar campus of Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai, India. This center was dedicated to the loving memory of Mrs. T. Kamala & Mr. R. Thiruvengada Chari by their daughter Dr. Kastoori Iyengar and son-in-law Rangaprasad (Ranga) Sarangarajan who live in the Boston area. 

Dr(s). Kastoori Iyengar and Rangaprasad (Ranga) Sarangarajan

Dr(s). Kastoori Iyengar and Rangaprasad (Ranga) Sarangarajan have devoted their lives to the healthcare arena, focused on improving the human health condition. Kastoori is a practicing family physician, working as a health practitioner in the central Massachusetts area for the past 15 years. Ranga is an educator and innovator - he began his career in Massachusetts as a professor, eventually transitioning to the Biotech industry focused on developing solutions for diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. 

For both Kastoori and Ranga, the support of Vision-Aid initiatives over several years has been driven by their personal experiences, emphasizing the impact of proactive diagnosis and treatment of vision health on individual quality of life.  Kastoori said "Ranga and I feel truly privileged and fortunate to have the opportunity to continue our support of Vision-Aid’s mission to enhance quality of life for the visually impaired. These values are shared by our children, Aniruddh Iyengar and Anushree Iyengar, who are delighted with our family's support of Vision-Aid in honor of my parents". 

Smt. T. Kamala Chari & Shri. R. Thirvengada Chari

The new center is dedicated to the loving memory of the late Shri. R. Thiruvengada Chari and Smt. T. Kamala Chari. Shri. R. Thiruvengada Chari and Smt. Kamala Chari were of humble beginnings from Tamil Nadu, raising a family inculcating the culture and values of the traditional Hindu tenets. They provided a strong foundation to their children, educating them to balance tradition and strong family values while embracing the advances in cultural diversities.  They were strong believers in supporting the underprivileged and ensured that their children were educated on the sense and importance of giving.  During her later years in life, Kamala Chari became progressively visually impaired, which was impactful in her belief that early diagnosis and management of vision health is an important part of an individual’s quality of life.  Kastoori and Ranga’s support is in memory of Kamala’s wish to support initiatives that are consistent with Vision-Aid’s vision. 

About Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai

Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, (also referred to as just “SN”) is an iconic and legendary eye hospital. After being recognized as one among the 'Best 4 Ophthalmological Institutions in the World for Year 2021' by Newsweek, the international news magazine, Sankara Nethralaya won The Economic Times Healthcare Awards 2021 for Best Hospital – Ophthalmology on the national level in India. 

About the Vision-Aid center at Sankara Nethralaya

The new named center is set for launch on Sept. 3rd, 2022 by Dr.(s) Kastoori Iyengar and Rangaprasad (Ranga) Sarangarajan. The Vision-Aid center is housed in a separate, dedicated facility called the Vision Enhancement Clinic. SN decided to allocate a separate building / facility focused on programs for the visually impaired– located at Shenoy Nagar in Chennai.

Services offered

Presently, the resource center at SN, Chennai offers the following types of services to the visually impaired each year. 

• Training in Assistive Devices and Technology 

• Visual skills training for infants

• Orientation & Mobility Training

• Early intervention/vision therapy programs

• Counselling and referral services

• Occupational Therapy Services

• Training in Computer Applications for visually impaired

• Training in Mobile technology and use of smart phones

• Braille training

• And many other services…

Reactions from Vision-Aid and Sankara Nethralaya teams

Dr. Rashima Asokan, Head-Vision Enhancement Clinic, Sankara Nethralaya said, “Bringing change to one's life is the utmost satisfaction a professional can earn! It reaches to the sky when it is done through rehabilitation or enhancement! One such phenomenal achievement is reaching to the most needy not only in terms of financial but also through the care and, passion. This is accomplished by Sankara Nethralaya through the enormous support from Vision-Aid. Our team at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai is delighted to partner with Vision-Aid in offering many important resources and services to our visually impaired patients in Chennai. We value this partnership which helps us bring several important services to our patients which were not available before such as rehabilitation and independent living, job-oriented training, early intervention and vision stimulation, remedial education, mobile based application training and so on... We are grateful to Vision-Aid and their supporters for making these possible"

Jeyanthi Ghatraju who serves as a volunteer Co-Chair on Vision-Aid’s Council of Ambassadors welcomed the news saying “I have had the pleasure of knowing Kastoori and Ranga for several years, and I am deeply touched to see their connection to the work of Vision-Aid growing over these years. In addition to supporting Vision-Aid financially, Kastoori has been serving as a volunteer, and has developed a purposeful connection to the cause. Now, Kastoori and Ranga have taken a big step forward in creating a named center which will benefit thousands! Vision-Aid team and those who are served are very grateful to them for this.”

Dr. Aparna Raghuram who serves as volunteer Director of Vision-Aid (USA) said “Being an alumnus of Sankara Nethralaya and now serving as a volunteer member of Vision-Aid's Board of Directors, it gives me immense satisfaction, to see both of these noble organizations, which have aligned missions of service to the under-privileged joining forces to offer many important "empowering" resources to the visually impaired through our Vision-Aid Resource Center in Shenoy Nagar, Chennai.”

Vision-Aid Co-Founder, Revathy Ramakrishna added “We are so impressed with the dedication and commitment of the team at Sankara Nethralaya. The work at this center is having an amazing impact on the lives of the visually impaired patients served there. I could not think of a more fitting tribute to Kastoori and Ranga’s dear parents than this, and we are very grateful to them and their entire family for giving us this opportunity.” 

About Vision-Aid

Vision-Aid’s mission it to Enable, Educate and Empower the visually impaired to live with independence and dignity. In the USA, Vision-Aid is 100% volunteer-run – please see www.VisionAid.org  Every activity here is performed by a dedicated team of service-minded, unpaid volunteers. All donations made are directly sent to SN, so 100% of donor support goes directly to work in the programs on the ground with no management or overhead costs incurred in Vision-Aid USA.  

Ways You Can Support Vision-Aid

Vision-Aid welcomes donors to join hands with them to help Enable, Educate and Empower the visually impaired.  https://visionaid.org/how-your-donation-helps/

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