Its a proud moment for the residents of Chembur. Dr Santosh Ravindran, a resident of Sai Niddhi Society, St Anthonys Road Extension, has been appointed the clinical director, dentistry, for Special Winter Olympics that begin in Japan this week.

Special Olympics are organised for the mentally challenged athletes from all over the world by Special Olympics Inc (SOI), Washington. The event is organised every two years.

Says Dr Ravindran, who has a clinic in Tilak Nagar, It is certainly a big moment for me, considering the fact that India will participate in only one event (floor hockey) at the Special Olympics this year.

Apart from treating injuries, Dr Ravindrans task as the dentist at the games will be to ascertain the dental fitness of the athletes. The games will be held from Feb 24 to March 1, 2005 at Nagona, Japan. Around 15,00 athletes from all over the world will participate in the games.

Apart from dentistry, medical experts from six other medical branches like like orthopedics and ophthalmologists will also be present at the event to monitor the fitness level of the players.

Thirty-five-year-old Dr Ravindran completed his BDS from Government Dental College, Mumbai, in 1991. Apart from his Tilak Nagar practise, Dr Ravindran is also associated with Jay Vakeel, a training centre for the mentally challenged.

When asked how challenging is the task to treat the mentally challenged, he says, I have been working with mentally challenged patients for the past one decade. I agree that it is quite challenging to handle them and, therefore, not many dentists are keen to attend to such patients. Such patients turn violent at the sight of a dentists clinic and his equipment. They often damage equipment and resort to violence. I have been bitten umpteen number of times while dealing with such patients.

Dr Ravindran is confident that his experience in treating such patients will stand him in good stead during the Japan assignment. I attend to mentally-challenged patients every Wednesday at Jay Vakeel Institute. I have been associated with them for 10 years now, he says.

He is also quick to add that he has never lobbied for such assignments. Indian athletes are a regular at Special Olympics. But this is probably the first time that a doctor from India will be part of this event. But I did not pull any strings to get the offer, he says.

Explaining the selection criteria, he says, Before selecting the doctors, SOI asks for feedbacks from local NGOs. SOI has an office in Delhi too. The Delhi office had requested Avni Foundation to shortlist candidates for the job. Later, based on the feedback from Avi Foundation, the SOI chose me.

Dr Ravindran will be given only airfare and accommodation facilities for his services. The appointment itself is a recognition of my contribution to this field. I am not bothered about the monetary aspect of the deal, he says.

manthan@mid-day.com