Dr. M. SENTHIL NATHAN

Lifetime Achievement Award for pioneering in Medical Robotic Surgery - Citation

The world of the future will be an even more demanding struggle against the limitations of our intelligence — not a comfortable hammock in which we can lie down to be waited upon by our robot slaves.

To harness the machine which is semi-human, though programmed, requires extraordinary intelligence, acumen, knowledge, and innate skill. The man who can master it can lead it and rule the world.

Here is a man who has mastered it — and who performed the first robotic surgery in the world. He who could command machines and humans for the betterment of the world, who envisaged a world without sickness, and who rules the roost in London — using the robot to its full potential in all aspects of multiple surgical procedures.

In urology, he specialised to stop the moving finger that writes relentlessly the Karma of life.

He is a Winner of the Association of Surgeons of India Gold Medal for the best student from our Tamil Nadu. He was the Best Student in Karnataka University for his Master of Surgery degree in 1987. He was College and University First in the final exit exam of Master of Surgery in Karnataka.

He is a Winner of the N Sethia Trust Award for Innovations in Surgery and Education — a grant of one million pounds to set up a Robotic Education Centre.

His achievements in the field of laparoscopic and robotic surgery defy words to express, phrases to articulate, and vocabulary to capture — worthy of his work and achievements. He explores the mystery beyond medical borders, reaching far beyond the age-old alchemy. He is the saviour of the male gender, addressing and defying destruction from dreaded cancer.

He is a consummate virtuoso in surgery, adept in the use of robots — a wizard in using artificial intelligence to save human lives.

His life is gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to the entire world:

"Here is a man — a healer, a man with a dexterous touch, and a saviour."

Here is a distinctive individual expression of a creative force — who is not a blueprint of anybody past, present, or future. "You are you, and there is no one quite like you in the world."

Some are born great, and some achieve greatness. And in all humility, we are proud that you, Sir, have graciously consented to accept our appreciation for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Presented by Aarunadu Vellalar Sangam, Thiruvanaikovil and Shivani Educational Institutions, Tiruchirapalli