A father’s last wish, of being useful even after death, was fulfilled by his daughter. K. Sandhya Gupta, who donated his body to the anatomy department of Osmania Medical College.
A retired employee of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), Parepalli Madhava Rao, who passed away recently, had planned ahead. “He was very clear that his eyes and body should be donated to a medical institution. He used to say that there is no point in burning the body after so many years of feeding it. That’s why we went all out to fulfil his wish,” his daughter, Ms. Gupta, recalls.
The family of late Madhava Rao was pleasantly surprised by the feedback from students of the medical college. “For the past six to eight months, the anatomy department students were working and reworking on the same cadaver. The practicals of researchers and students were held up as there was no cadaver. They welcomed us with open arms and appreciated our efforts,” she says.
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Interest in research was huge for Rao, who has translated Russian books into English in subjects that include botany, zoology, agriculture, fuels and mining for Indian publishing houses. “By the age of 80, he had already translated 80 technical books and hundreds of scientific articles from Russian to English,” she adds.