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ShareBangalore: Sitting in a 20X20 room, originally meant for use as a garage, Dr Padmanabha keeps himself busy throughout the morning (between 7 am to 11.15 am) and for a similar period in the evenings, almost every day. Most of the patients who visit his clinic are children and the first treatment that Padmanabha offers them is a bright smile.
For more than two decades, this doctor in Srinivas Nagar is serving the needy and has become a health resort for poor and middle class families. Despite his popularity in the profession, the doctor has not really bothered about the fee he collects. Till date, he has not charged more than Rs10 as consultation fee and Rs15, if an injection has been administered.
And to journalists who approach him for interviews, he politely shows a 'NO' signboard. "I don't want any publicity. I don't give interviews or pose for photographs," says Padmanabha who is in his 70s. The queue of patients extending upto half a kilometre clearly indicates that the doctor needs no popularity as his expertise is more than enough.
In order to start his day as early as possible every morning, he takes a slow walk from his house, located in the same area, towards the hospital. He is welcomed by the hundreds of patients who come from various parts of the city.
Chittaranjan K, a person who was in queue to avail treatment for his granddaughter says: "I have known this doctor for the last 15 years. In addition to the treatment at this place, he also visits houses in the locality and offers treatment," he adds. And it's not just the doctor who is involved in the service of the needy here. Even Padmanabha's wife treats patients for a minimal fee.
