Long ago there was a king named Bharathrahari who was very kind and
popular. One day a `sadhu’ came and gifted him a rare fruit `amarphal’ (that
continues to ripen even after it is cut off the plant and is considered
immortal). The king gave it to his beloved queen Bhanumathi. She was in love
with someone else and gave it to him. This man was in love with a “woman of the
night” and gave it to her. This lady, on introspection, felt that she really didn’t
deserve such a rare fruit and presented it to the king! The king got the shock
of his life on receiving `amarphal’ back and on discovering his wife’s
infidelity. Thoroughly disgusted, he gave up his throne and became a `sadhu’*.
There are two types of persimmons (`amarphal’); they are different in
shape and the way they ripen. Hachiya
persimmons are large and need to ripen to the point where they are almost
bursting out of their skins. If you eat
them before they ripen fully, they are astringent but when ripe are so much
tastier than the small Fuyu persimmons.
The picture, taken by me at the estate of
Ch. Mahabir Singh near Saharanpur, shows `amarphal’ and little cute Vanshika,
the granddaughter of Optom B S Rathore.
Late Dr Mohan Lal of Gandhi Eye Hospital, Aligarh was instrumental in
getting optometry introduced in India by way of the two-year diploma course in
1958. Late Dr L P Agarwal of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
worked towards the transformation of the discipline into a clinical technology
by way of the three-year degree course in ophthalmic techniques (which is now a
3+1 year course). And Dr S S Badrinath started the four-year degree course in
optometry that has been well received not only in India but also in other countries.
But some vested interests in ophthalmology do keep on playing with optometry by
introducing different nomenclature with a view that it be perceived as a
subordinate discipline…and this goes against its rightful development as an
independent profession.
It’s important that optometry (the highly placed primary eye care
profession in overseas countries like Australia, USA and UK) be treated as such
in India by making it a broad-based discipline of four-year degree course at
all institutions across the country so as to enable it to effectively serve the
community as the first line of defence against blindness in true sense. Let Government cultivate optometry as the
sacred `amarphal’ to look after the visual welfare of its massing millions!
Dr Narendra Kumar
Editor, Optometry Today
OptometryToday@gmail.com
* www.diversekitchen.com
