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The
Princess' visit
THE TALL, slim, soft-spoken
Princess was here to help a couple of
organisations spread the word about the danger
diabetes poses in India. Princess Benedikte, the
younger sister of Queen Margarethe-II of Denmark,
was visiting Tamil Nadu as the Patroness of the
World Diabetes Foundation and accompanying her
were members of the governing body of the
foundation.
The foundation was established
two years ago by Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo
Nordisk who pledged to donate about $85 million
over ten years to it. We are now out to collect
much more from international donors, a member of
the independent Board - who has had a long
association with India through being a member of
the DANIDA Board - told me. The foundation uses
its funds to support the prevention and treatment
of diabetes in the developing world through
funding education programmes, awareness creation
and the distribution of essential drugs amongst
the poor. The Diabetes Research Centre, founded by
the M. Viswanathan Diabetes Hospital in Royapuram,
and the Arvind Eye Hospital in Madurai are to be
associated with training programmes the foundation
plans to support in India for doctors, nurses and
paramedical staff.
During her visit to the State,
Princess Benedikte also took time off to visit
what had been Denmark's flagship settlement in the
East, Tranquebar. An official accompanying her
stated that Denmark was still keen on restoration
of what remains a colonial settlement unchanged in
look from the 18th Century, but awaited an
official request from Tamil Nadu to meet and
discuss the modalities of a partnership. The
Danish offer of help for the restoration of
Tranquebar is about three years old, as far as I
can recall, and it is time the State Government
responded. Historic Tranquebar with its beach is
certainly a tourist destination that could do with
some enthusiastic restoration and development by
those with experience in international tourism and
heritage conservation.
Much of this I caught up with
at a dinner the Consul for Sweden in Chennai, N.
Sankar, hosted. The highlight of that dinner for
me was seeing an old friend being honoured with a
Danish order of merit by Princess Benedikte. S.B.
Prabhakar Rao, who some 30 years ago gave me one
of my first orders to encourage me as a printer in
Madras, has been Honorary Vice Consul for Denmark
in South India for over 25 years and the medal
pinned on him by the Princess recognised that
service. A surprised but delighted Prabhakar Rao
may not have been sure whether to bow or to
courtesy, excitedly accepting the award with a
bobbing blend of both, but he had his wits about
him to remember his mentor, K. S. Narayanan, the
first Consul whose office he had managed,
requesting him to be part of the picture taken
after the presentation.
Another veteran to be honoured
recently was A. J. de Souza, that dedicated
athletics coach long associated with the Don Bosco
Track and Field Club. When one of his former
athletes, Harsha Venkatesh, now in the U.S., sent
a ten-year subscription on behalf of de Souza to
the International Track & Field Coaches'
Association, the Association responded in splendid
fashion. It made de Souza an Honorary Lifetime
Member, and its president, George G Dales, wrote,
"For your more than 25 years of service you
are hereby recognised as an ITFCA Honorary Life
Member. You are a model coach and your
international colleagues are very proud to be
associated with you." Indeed, there's been no
coach in Madras more dedicated to the thankless
task of track and field coaching than de Souza. At
last there's recognition for all that coaching and
all those age-group meets he has organised over
the years.
S. MUTHIAH
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