Mangaluru, May 3: Dr Bellipady Satish Rai, who treated countless poor patients for free, is no more. The 74-year-old doctor, writer and artiste breathed his last at a private hospital in Bengaluru yesterday after a massive cardiac arrest.
Hailing from a reputed family in Perne village of Puttur Taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, Dr Satish Rai decided to serve the poor patients after obtaining MBBS degree from Mysore Medical College in 1968.
In fact his ancestors had owned thousands of acres of land. However, following the Land Reforms Act his father Narayana Rai lost all the properties in 1962 and the family was in dire straits. He had to earn own money to complete the degree after his father breathed his last when he was in final year MBBS.
For past five decades he was treating patients at Sri Manjunatha Clinic on T. Narasipur Main Road in Siddarthanagar, Mysuru. He was known in the region as the ‘common man’s doctor’ as most of his patients were common people and poor.
Every day he used to treat a large number of poor patients without taking any fee from them. Those afflicted with Chikungunya and Dengue used to get complete free of cost treatment in his clinic. He used to charge fees only for those patients who are economically sound.
Along with practicing medicine, he was Home Guard Commandant for 25 years and had bagged gold medal from the president of India. A writer and a poet, he has contributed two dozen works to the Kannada literary world.
Through his Bellipadi Yaksha Samskrithika Trust, Dr Rai tired to promote the traditional art of Tulu Nadu. He himself was a Yakshagana artiste.
“Satishanna was a rare human being. He is my role model. He often used to guide and advise me. He was a real social worker. Since childhood he used to help others. He became a doctor just to help others,” said B Ramanath Rai, the minister for forest, environment and ecology, who happens to be the younger brother of the deceased.
“Soon after Satishanna started his medical profession, he had started a hostel for poor students in Mysuru. I also had stayed in the same hostel for one year when I was studying in Mysuru. His demise is not only a loss for our family but for the society,” said an emotional Rai.
Rush of patients in front of Dr B Satish Rai’s Sri Manjunatha Clinic in Mysuru (file photo)
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