“Netram Pradhanam Servendriyanam”.
In Chapter 15, shlok 8.1 of the Bhagwat Geeta, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that the eyes are the greatest and most beautiful gift from Almighty God to the human being.

True to its spirit, Shanti Mandir has embarked upon an ambitious plan to provide state-of-the-art surgical cataract treatment to restore the eyesight to those patients who belong to the underprivileged sector of soc iety, and therefore have neither access to reliable medical and surgical services, nor to financial aid. During the past 6 to 7 years, Shanti Mandir has organised nine such eye camps. The tenth Camp was held on Wednesday, March 3, 2004, at Village Jhabreda, near Roorkee, in the District of Haridwar.

At Shanti Mandir, perfection is the key word, be it the Navratra Celebrations, the Bhagwat Saptah, running an educational institution, or organizing an eye camp. Gurudev executes all these events with finesse, and with such clarity of thought that there is no room for error.

He personally oversees all the arrangements, administrative as well as medical, and suggests corrective actions where needed.

The success rate of all the surgeries performed to date has been a hundred percent. Health Care Management, a magazine published by Indian Express, has reported in their issue of October 31, 2002, that the Government of Maharashtra has decided to discontinue rural eye camp surgeries because of their extremely low success rate of 37.8%.

The inferior results are reportedly due to the low technological level, substandard quality of surgery, and poor postoperative care. In all the eye camps organized by Shanti Mandir, due care is taken in all these three areas, which has made these camps extremely popular among the villagers and local people, who look forward to Shanti Mandir’s Eye Camps with great hope and respect.

These camps used to be held once a year, but to their growing demand by these poor people, the camps are now held twice a year, and the requests keep pouring in for more medical relief. Indeed, it is the divine Shakti permeating the environment that works through all the administrative and technical resources, to bring complete success to these undertakings.

The camp at Village Jhabreda was organized in association with the Ganga Mata Charitable Eye Hospital & Research Centre of Haridwar, duly supported and coordinated by the Government Pensioners Welfare Organisation of Roorkee. Village Jhabreda, a small community located at about 40 km from Haridwar, was chosen as the venue for the Eye Camp held on Wednesday, March 3, 2004.

Gurudev has chosen this hospital because of their highly experienced eye surgeons, who are assisted by well-trained nurses and paramedical staff. The 60-bedded hospital is equipped with the latest surgical instruments and its doctors are capable of performing any type of eye treatment, including phacomulsification and stitchless surgery. The hospital also provides high quality postoperative care. Retired persons, who extend their full-hearted help and cooperation in managing the overall programme, run the Government Pensioners Welfare Organisation.

On March 2, 2004, Gurudev visited Ganga Mata Eye Hospital to examine the preparations personally. He held discussions with the doctors and trustees to give the final touch to the planning and monitoring of the schedule, and examined the operation theatre and the postoperative nursing wing.

On March 3, 2004, Gurudev reached the village at 9:00 in the morning to inaugurate the Eye Camp. He was accompanied by Shri Madan Gopal Sharma and Mamaji (Ram Mohan Sharma), along with Managing Trustees of Ganga Mata Hospital. An advance party of about 25 bhaktas had already reached the village site to render assistance to the poor and aged patients in their eye check-up process. The camp was held in the Saraswati Rajkiya Balika Inter College building, the second inter-college for girls run by the Government of the State of Uttaranchal, in the district of Haridwar.

On Gurudev’s arrival, the President of the Pensioners Welfare Organisation, the Village Head, and the Principal of the Inter College for Girls welcomed him profusely. In his inaugural address, Gurudev emphasized the value of a healthy mind and body. He stressed upon the villagers the importance of providing basic education and healthy food to their children, so that they become good citizens, able to work for the upliftment and emancipation of the poor.

Gurudev said that discipline, along with basic education, should go a long way in their overall development and character building. This will enable them not only to work in the fields for higher and efficient produce, but also will inculcate good human values in our society.

Mrs. Basumati Sharma, Principal of the Girls Inter College, while expressing her gratitude to Gurudev for his blessings to the young college girls, also spoke of the critical situation of the college building, as well as the inability of the local village students to pay their educational fee, Since it is a State Government-run college, the monthly educational fee has been subsidized to a meagre Rs. 1 and paise 50 up to XIth Standard, and Rs. 7 for XIIth Standard. Despite such a low fee, many students face difficulty in paying even this amount.

Therefore, Mrs. Sharma also requested Gurudev to extend some kind of financial assistance, so that educational standards could be raised in this college. Gurudev inspected the school building later, and agreed to extend a suitable financial support. In fact, some funds were donated to this college immediately thereafter, with a promise to provide wooden benches as well, in due course of time.

In the OPD registration, 788 patients were medically examined. Out of these, 180 patients were diagnosed as cataract blind, and identified for free cataract surgery and intra-ocular lens implants. The lenses were procured by Shanti Mandir from the Fred Hollows Foundation in Australia. All other expenses incurred in performing the surgery and indoor postoperative care, were met by Shanti Mandir, including medicines and glasses. The rest of the patients were treated in the camp, and the medicines were distributed at no cost.

To date, a total of 1144 patients have been successfully operated on for restoration of their eyesight. In other words, not a single patient has complained of any kind of postoperative complication.

Surely, this could not have been possible without the divine Shakti, and the blessings of Baba Muktanand and Gurudev Nityanandji Maharaj, which supersede the financial and medical limitations in these Eye Camps.

With the aim of restoring their eyesight to as many poor people as possible, Shanti Mandir solicits donations from everyone who believes in this noble cause.

It costs US$ 25.00 to restore a person’s eyesight – this includes the price of the lens and the surgical procedure. The operation alone costs only Rs.500.

All donations can be sent directly to Shanti Mandir, Mumbai

Sadgurunath Maharaj ki Jai.