The Life of Dr. Subbiah Sangiah –
A Testimony to the Power of the Human Spirit
Thank you for taking the time to read about Dr. Sangiah – professor, community volunteer, friend, a dedicated father and a devoted husband to my sister. His story is one of willpower and resilience and help that he received from fellowmen at critical junctures. His life is a powerful testament to the nobler streaks in the human spirit and Providence’s helping hand. I would like to share a few parts of this inspiring story.
-Born into a poor family in a remote village, he had a harsh start in life. He literally had to walk miles to go to school wading through a river on the way.
One day as he was going to elementary school, it was raining hard and the river that Sangiah had to cross had more water than usual. Other children returned home. Sangiah did not want to miss a day of school and pressed on. Soon, he found himself being swept away. He felt that death had him in its clutches.
Thankfully, some local fishermen spotted him and rescued him. As his family mourns that Sangiah has been snatched away much too early, we can be sure that Sangiah was keenly aware of the reprieve that he received that day.
-Sangiah was orphaned before he finished middle school. Largely left to fend for himself, he faced the daily challenge of obtaining a meal. Some days he succeeded, other days he did not. When Sangiah finished middle school, attending high school 10 miles away was a highly uncertain prospect. He could not walk to school. The ONLY way that Sangiah could attend high school, was if he was admitted to a government-funded dorm that would take care of his boarding and lodging. There were three candidates for the one remaining slot. At a time and place where such decisions hinged on considerations of caste and the exchange of mutual favors, Sangiah’s chances were slim to nothing.
Surprisingly, the local decision maker arrived at a Solomon like decision – the selection would be made by drawing lots. Sangiah’s chances were boosted immediately to 1/3, but he was extremely anxious. When the lots were drawn, Sangiah was immensely grateful to learn that Providence did have high school in store for him.
-Sangiah continued to pursue his studies diligently. At the end of his senior year, his teacher asked the class about which students had plans to attend college. When Sangiah raised his hand, the teacher dismissively asked him why he was raising his hand saying that somebody of his socioeconomic status should not have such aspirations. It was a stinging blow to an adolescent receiving no emotional support from any quarter.After finishing high school, Sangiah was completely unsure of what lay ahead. While he wanted to continue his education, he did not have any means to pursue this option.
One day after the deadline for most colleges had passed, with his teacher’s stinging words ringing in his ears, he was leaning listlessly on a lamppost by the dusty village road pondering the dead end that he had reached in his formal education. At that time, a car pulled up and a stranger asked for directions to a friend’s place. When Sangiah started giving the directions, the stranger suggested that perhaps he should get in the car and guide them. The stranger, Mr. Gopalakrishnan turned out to be Providence’s most generous helping hand. He learned of Sangiah’s plight and helped him to get to college and paid his tuition, If not for the generosity of a complete stranger, Sangiah would have made his living as a laborer who would have been lucky to earn a dollar a day. Providence had been very kind to him indeed.
-When Sangiah attended college, he was completely lost as all classes were taught in English, a language on which he had a very tenuous grasp. His high school education obtained in asmall remote village was highly inadequate and he seriously considered dropping out.
However, he pressed on. He managed to perform satisfactorily in spite of being handicapped in the classroom due to language skills. However, this performance fell short of the standards for admission to medical school. Mr. Gopalakrishnan guided him to veterinary school in Chennai (capital city and farfrom his village) and paid his tuition through all of vet school.
-During vet school, Sangiah’s congenital heart problem flared up. Sangiah did not have the means to obtain medical help. He could not burden Mr. Gopalakrishnan with this additional problem.
His classmates and professors aware of his dire financial straits introduced him to doctors. One of the doctors was from near his native village and took keen interest in Sangiah and performed the needed operation free of cost. Sangiah had no relatives who had the resources to travel to Chennai and be by his bedside. Seeing his plight, one of the nurses in the hospital‘adopted’ him. She visited him and nourished him back to health with nutritional supplements bought with her own money.
(The heart problem continued for all of his remaining years causing fatigue and fainting spells - bedeviling his existence and creating considerable stress for his family. He went through several medical procedures and he carried on with assistance of medications that had to be constantly monitored and recalibrated.)
With this help, Sangiah blazed his way through Vet school graduating at the top of his class. He was admitted to the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi where he obtained a master’s degree. He earned a scholarship to pursue doctoral studies in neuropharmacology at PurdueUniversity.
Sangiah’s scholarship for his doctoral studies provided him funds after his arrival in the U.S. However, getting there was a problem, since he did not have funds to buy his ticket nor the network to even obtain a passport which required the recommendation of a senior government official. A kind classmate helped him obtain the passport and introduced him to a ticket agent, a person of the Sikh faith. Something about Sangiah impressed the ticket agent and induced him to offer his help. One sometimes hears about ticket agents who pocket the customer’s funds and abscond. However, this ticket agent loaned Sangiah the funds and asked him to repay it in installments later. On his own initiative, he even gave Sangiah spending money of $100!! Yet another instance in which Providence had smiled on Sangiah through a kind stranger.
After completing his doctoral studies, he joined the faculty at OklahomaStateUniversity. He served as a Full Professor of Pharmacology until 2002, when his illness forced his retirement. He was actively engaged in research and guided several doctoral students to successful careers. He was deeply passionate about his teaching. Vet school students greatly appreciated his classroom skillsand he was given several teaching awards. I had an opportunity to look at student comments from one of his classes a month ago as we were sorting through his papers. It was clear that he got his students very excited about the arcane details of pharmacology. (Pharmacology in the vet school curriculum would be like statistics in the business curriculum.) When he had to retire, his greatest regret was that he could not teach anymore.
Sangiah was involved in many community activities. He helped build facilities for the school in his native village. Unbeknownst to Sangiah, the grateful villagers named a school building in his honor. The orphaned boy came a long way. He was instrumental in setting up a roller-skating park in Stillwater, so that youth would have an outlet for their energies. He was involved with many other community activities in Stillwater as well as a member of the Rotary Club. Sangiah and my sister opened their home to many students over the years. After completing their studies and moving elsewhere, these students remained as members of an extended family.
Sangiah received the diagnosis of lung cancer on his birthday 4 years ago and was given 6 months to live. This news was hard to digest. A non-smoker living in a small isolated town having lung cancer – how was this possible?
Sangiah put up a remarkable fight against cancer. He got a lot of support from numerous friends throughout his illness. Sangiah was really blessed to have students who remained deeply attached to him. One of them, Jeff Blair, was by his side as a son through Sangiah’s illness. Sangiah was also blessed to have wonderful friends. One of his colleagues visited with him for an hour almost every single day during Sangiah’s last year. Sangiah was blessed with great children. He was blessed to have both of them by his bedside during his last weeks. They took exceptional care of him.
I would like to say a few words about my sister.She gave up her job as a professor to devote her energies exclusively to attending to him after his cancer diagnosis. Over the last four years, she was his secretary making doctors’ appointments and dealing with endless administrative forms and procedures, his chauffeur driving him around to his appointments, his bookkeeper juggling the family’s finances with a slashed income, and a nurse par excellence monitoring his diet and administering his drugs efficiently and without error in spite of countless sleepless nights and draining days. As I watched her leaning over Sangiah in his last week and comforting him in spite of having had little rest, I experienced many emotions. Fist, I was in awe of her caring spirit. Also, I was jealous of Sangiah; few of us can count on receiving such care in their last days. Providence had especially kind to Sangiah in this regard. Finally, I was very proud to be her brother.
Dr. Sangiah, my dear brother-in-law, you can relax now. Fate cannot touch you with any more stinging blows for you are firmly in the grasp of Providence which will assuredly give you the rest that you have earned after your many struggles. We will always remember you with much pride and you will continue to be a great source of inspiration for many of us, friends and family.