Mahendra Somasundaram

• Eldest son of Ramasamy Pillai Somasundaram, M.D. and his wife Maheswari Somasundaram (nee Sivasithamparam);

• Grandson of Canapathy Pillai Sivasithamparam, M.D. of Mullaitivu and his wife Thirapurasundari Kailasapillai;

• Grandson of Mr. & Mrs. Ramasamy Pillai of Mallakam, Jaffna;

• Eldest brother of Kylasan Somasundaram, M.D. in Malaysia and Kumaresan Somasundaram, M.D., deceased;

• Adored father to three daughters Narmadha, Pamathi, and Manjula Somasundaram;

• Beloved husband of wife Padma Devi Somasundaram (nee Supramaniam), deceased;

• Father figure to and Protector of adored grandchildren Jyothi Dolinak and Joseph Vikram Dolinak; and

• Staunch friend to many including former medical school classmate Darrel Felix Weinman, M.D., Nadraser Jeyasingham, Kulasekaram Bala Kumaran, M.D., K. N. Senevaratne, M.D., and Raghavan Amerasingham, M.D.

Mahendra Somasundaram was born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on March 20, 1932 and began his early schooling there. He moved with his parents to Akkaraipattu, a small town in the Batticaloa District, where his physician father began working for the Malaria Eradication Campaign. In January 1939 his father unexpectedly passed away; a crushing blow to his wife and three small sons and a watershed moment for young seven-year-old Mahendra. After that day, the family struggled without any regular incoming salary and his mother Maheswari began selling off her inherited property, house by house, to procure money to feed, clothe, and educate her three sons. Maheswari’s father, Dr. Sivasithamparam, invited the struggling family to his residence in Jaffna at No. 1 Martin Road where he developed a close relationship with his grandsons, and especially Mahendra, and was faithfully cared for by his daughter until his death in 1947. It was there that young Mahendra grew to know his cousins and relatives from Mullaitivu. It was also there that Mahendra became acquainted with the medical profession as his grandfather had a medical practice in Jaffna and sometimes used him as a medical volunteer when he demonstrated medical procedures such as First Aid to medical students.

Mahendra attended St. Patrick’s College in Jaffna where his intellectual prowess soon became apparent and he also actively participated in school and extracurricular programs.

In 1945 Mahendra relocated to the capital, Colombo, with his mother, brothers, and grandfather. They lived in a small house on Sri Wickrama Road in Wellawatta and had a constant stream of visitors. At this time Maheswari took in her late husband’s nephew Srinivasan Supramaniam and niece Saradha Supramaniam. They lived with Mahendra’s family for a few years and were lovingly supervised and cared for by his mother. Mahendra’s love of learning was encouraged by his mother and many uncles, especially his lawyer uncle Mr. Ramasamy Pillai Kanagasundaram who leant him outstanding works of British literature and poetry from his extensive home library. His mother attended to his Hindu education and he participated in home study lectures in which he listened to readings of The Mahabharata and the Tamil classic, ‘Sillapathi Karam’ (The Anklet). He won a scholarship to Royal College in Colombo and entered the prestigious school in the third form. There he had a wide circle of friends - Sinhalese, Burgher (descendants of Dutch and Portuguese colonialists), and Tamil – and took a keen interest in their lives and academic achievements.

Mahendra was young when he gained admission to Medical College, only seventeen, and earned his MBBS degree and passed out as a physician in 1955. His brothers, Kylasan and Kumaresan also earned medical degrees in 1958 and 1962 respectively.

In 1960 Mahendra had an arranged marriage to Padma Devi Supramaniam. Their eldest daughter Narmadha (now known as Nan) was born the following year in 1961 while Mahendra was working as a House Officer in the small town of Ratnapure. In 1962 he left Ceylon and sailed on a big ship to England to study for the British Membership exams which he passed at his first attempt. In 1963 his wife and small daughter sailed to England to join him and they moved to Leeds in the North part of England. In 1964, Mahendra and Padma had their second child, Pamathi (now known as Pam) in Leeds while he was working with top medical consultants.

In 1965, the family sailed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where Mahendra practiced Internal Medicine while employed by the Faculty Of Medicine in the newly formed University Of Malaysia. Mahendra threw himself into his work with his usual passion and dedication and worked closely with the Dean Dr. Dhanaraj. In 1965, his third daughter Manjula was born in Malaysia. In 1967, Dr. Dhanaraj chose Mahendra for a one-year scholarship to study the newly emerging diagnostic imaging technology, EEG, at the University Of Washington in Seattle, the United States. His wife and three small children joined him in Seattle that year and the family enjoyed the natural beauty of Washington state and the friendly mostly Scandinavian-origin people there.

In 1968 Mahendra and family returned to Malaysia where he became a faculty member at the University Of Malaysia and distinguished himself with superior patient care and outstanding teaching. Dr. Dhanaraj encouraged Mahendra to begin learning another medical specialty and suggested Neurology. In December 1971, the family emigrated to the United States as they were unable to procure Malaysian citizenship and wanted a Western education for their three daughters.

Mahendra was accepted into the Neurology Residency program at Cornell Medical School and began training under distinguished neurologists Fred Plum, M.D. and Jerome B. Posner, M.D. He worked at New York Hospital – Memorial Medical Center until 1974 when he accepted a clinical neurologist and teaching position at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Mahendra rose to the position of Distinguished Professor of Clinical Neurology and distinguished himself with his unfailing devotion to outstanding quality patient care and superb teaching. He trained countless residents in the Neurology Residency Program and was known as a patient, kind, inspiring teacher who shared his love of learning with his students. Mahendra continued working at Downstate Medical Center until he was well into his 80s when he had to retire due to weakening physical health. His mind, however, remained sharp and alert until the very end of his life. On Saturday January 15, 2022, 89-year-old Mahendra passed away at his home in Long Island after a brief hospitalization. May his soul rest in Peace. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.