Classical music lovers know him as a vocalist and as president of the Gayana Samaja. For Dasa Sahitya enthusiasts, he is an ardent ambassador of our saints. Sick patients heap praise on him for the treatment he offers at reduced costs. But what the poor really think of Dr. M.R.V. Prasad is more revealing. “Prasad is Dhanvantari to the deprived,” says a patient waiting in his crowded clinic at N.R. Colony.
Dr. Prasad (61) was presented this year's Rajyotsava Award for his contribution to medicine, social service and cultural promotion. “Today, I fondly remember my violinist mother Rajamma for not only inculcating a love for music but for boldly pushing me into the medical field at a time when we were weak financially. After that too, it was her determination that made me stay in India,” says Dr. Prasad. When 80 per cent of his classmates moved away to foreign shores, it was her advice of “don't leave the country that has given you education, serve the rural pockets” that he heeded.
Dr. Prasad completed his primary education at Thippagondanahalli, as his father Raghava Rao was a PWD engineer posted there. “Later, I did my PUC at National College in Bangalore. This was the time I got more exposure to drama and music. But my medicine at BMC was surely a turning point,” says Dr. Prasad.
On the music front, the young student had time chalked out to learn from T.P. Prabhakar (violin Chowdiah's nephew), and he later learnt under R.K. Padmanabha to get more intrinsically associated with the Dasa bhakthi. “We formed the Haridasa Sampada Trust and for a decade we have been arranging concerts for promoting the saints,” he says. Vadiraja Kala Bhavan followed with the same verve and spirit from vocalists R.K. Padmanabha, Amarnath and Prasad.
Finger in many pies
“And serving people, especially in numerous medical camps in remote areas, is something that I cherish. It improves the quality of life in rural pockets,” says Dr. Prasad. He is on free call for students at Jaya Theertha Vidya Peetha, Poorna Pragna Vidya Peetha and the Madhwa Yuvaka Sangha. In N.R. Colony he attends a Day Care Centre that takes care of patients' immediate needs, a pharmacy that has “effective but inexpensive medicines” and a physiotherapy centre. “Be it culture or medicine, it is service that matters,” says the busy doctor.
