QUEEN’S B’DAY HONOURS

COMMUNITY EYE-CON

SYDNEY

Dr Sudarshan

Kumar Sachdev

OAM

For service to the community, and to medicine, particularly to ophthalmology

Ask Dr SK Sachdev about his career highlights, and he will reply, “The crying days at eye camp.”

He means the last days of eye camps in remote areas of India or Fiji, where his patients from some of the most underprivileged sections of society come to bid him goodbye, their vision now restored.

The Sydney-based ophthalmologist has been named by the Australian Government in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list this year.

“I’m very proud of my OAM honour, coming at the end of 46 years of service,” Dr Sachdev tells Indian Link

Yet he muses, “Is it going to change my daily life much? I can’t say; I’m going to continue doing what I’ve been doing.”

Dr Sudarshan Sachdev arrived here in the mid-1970s, fresh with university degrees from New Delhi and Edinborough, as an eye specialist at Taree Hospital. He was the only such specialist serving the people in the entire region. In his ten years there, he also taught at Newcastle Medical College.

He moved to Sydney in 1985 and set up a practice at Dee Why and a day surgery at Rosebery.

Very early in his career in India, Dr Sachdev began to give back to the community, working at eye camps in areas where his service was needed most. It is a practice that continues to this day.

As a member of the Roatry Club, he was able to extend this service to needy people in Fiji, taking teams of specialists and nurses, all volunteers, to far-flung areas to set up eye camps.

“The Rotary Club has been a great platform for me,” he observes. “In thirty years now, I’ve served as president of the Rosebery chapter, taken on various portfolios and overseen national and international projects.”

One such experience is his association with ROMAC, the Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children, a program in which members volunteer their time and expertise.

The Rotary Club recognised his efforts by presenting him with the Humanitarian Service Award on two different occasions, as well as with its prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship.

Currently he is involved with the eradication of trachoma. “The WHO aims to eradicate trachoma, a public health disease that causes blindness or impaired vision, by the year 2020. My own work in this regard is with indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.”

Besides ophthalmology, Dr Sachdev has developed a keen interest in the study and prevention of of degenerative ailments and in metabolic disorders

His work with CHeBA, UNSW’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, stems from a deeply personal space. “I lost my mum to dementia, and that spurred an interest in healthy ageing and prevention of dementia.”

At Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, his work is aimed at better understanding insulin-resistant diabetes.

At both institutes, his Sachdeva Foundation raises funds to support research scientists engaged in finding treatments.

The foundation was set up eighteen years ago in association with his wife Naresh, herself a gynaecologist.

“The aim of the Foundation is to promote research into issues close to our heart,” he says.

Together both Dr Sachdevs are a well-regarded team in Sydney’s Indian community, heavily involved in local fundraising initiatives for other programs such as breast cancer awareness and prevention.

“Naresh is my right hand,” Dr Sachdev says of his wife. “The Foundation was really her idea, and she has been instrumental in the eye camps we organise and in the setting up of our surgeries.”

They met as medical students at Delhi’s Maulana Azad Medical College, an institute that has no less than 102 alumni in Sydney alone. “I am the senior-most of these 102,” Dr Sachdev laughs.

Rajni Anand Luthra

Talking Diversity

MELBOURNE Deepak Vinayak OAM

For service to the multicultural community of Victoria

This year’s OAM recipient and community leader Deepak Vinayak JP believes that leadership is not about titles, positions and flowcharts, it is about one life influencing another.

Five time Australia Day Ambassador and the first person of Indian origin to be chosen as Multicultural Champion by Victoria State Government, Deepak lives by his motto to do more for the world than it does for you.

Deepak has won countless awards and nominations for his work in the field of multicultural awareness and advocacy. He is a Justice of Peace, R U OK and White Ribbon ambassador, Pride of Australia 2018 medal winner, and the list of accolades goes on.

“I strongly believe in connecting all the dots by bringing people together from culturally diverse communities who call Australia home and all my endeavours are focussed on taking diversity to the next level,” Deepak told Indian Link

He is currently engaged in strengthening the community resources in the areas of violence, gender justice and youth empowerment through active participation and engagement with the government, police, media and broader Australian communities.

Family man Deepak claims to be motivated by his two sons who look up to him as a role model. They inspire him to continue his voluntary work of giving back to the community.

“I have been a key believer in the powers of youth and this has led me to take initiatives to develop formal and informal platforms to bring young people together,” he said. “The aim is to deliberate and act on issues like social cohesion and multiculturalism, and encourage them to play active leadership roles in their own respective communities and regions to strengthen fellow feeling, belongingness and good citizenship.”

These are broadly also the aims of the South Asian Communities Link Group of which Deepak is patron. SACLG focuses on a range of multicultural issues that impact on its member communities which include India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Afghanistan and the Maldives. The group focuses on the delivery of services to Australia’s culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse society.

Hailing from Rampur Phool in Bhatinda, Punjab, Deepak claims he came to Sydney in 1995 with one suitcase, no contacts, $20 in his pocket and big dreams.

Initially he did it tough by working in any job he could get and sleeping on benches in train stations, but coming to Melbourne and gaining education and employment changed his life. Deepak is currently Station Master/ Metro Community Liaison Officer at Metro Trains Melbourne.

He has actively engaged with newly arrived migrants who have chosen Australia to be their homeland and trained them in Australian values and ethics and helped them settle smoothly through language support and career guidance.

“We rise by lifting others. I don’t want anyone to go through the tough time I did when I came to Australia, penniless and friendless,” he revealed. “I consider Australia to be a lucky country and am passionate about welcoming new arrivals and giving them the support and guidance that helps them to achieve their migrant dreams.”

Deepak is humbled and delighted to receive the OAM honour. “I feel it’s very special for a civilian like me. I was surprised when I found out I was receiving it because I always felt this honour is for more senior, more mature and much more accomplished people than I,” he said sharing his joy.

Preeti Jabbal