"We in India have a deep belief in karma," says this cataract surgeon. Karma plays the most important role in a human being's life on Earth. With karma we can understand that what we give to the world is what we'll receive from it. We must spread our positive energy."

Dr. Agarwal's belief in karma is one reason she is a major force behind the Eye Research Center (ERC).

The ERC is a non-profit affiliate of Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital in Chennai, India. The ERC provides free eye care to the poor in rural India. Each week, ERC mobile units travel to remote villages to screen and treat patients.

Dr. Agarwal says, "Patients who require medicines and spectacles receive them totally free of cost. Patients who require surgery are brought back to the hospital in Chennai, where all types of eye surgery are carried out. The patients are bathed, clothed and fed. Then, after investigations, we operate. The next week, when the ERC mobile unit visits their area, we drop them off."

Since 1977, the ERC has examined more than 1 million patients and conducted nearly 30,000 procedures.

R Dr. Agarwal is secretary of the ERC. Her father, mother, brother and sister-in-law -- all ophthalmologists -- are members of the ERC staff.

The ERC staff frequently travels to war-torn areas. During the Kargil War, Indian Airlines flew Dr. Agarwal and the ERC staff to border zones so they could provide eye care to soldiers and residents.

Dr. Agarwal fondly remembers one patient.

"A 7-year-old girl, Anita, had been hit by shrapnel from an exploding land mine. Her eye had lost all vision. After talking and playing with her for more than an hour, she developed the confidence to allow me to carry out the surgery. I explained that she needed to help me by keeping still and looking into the light of the microscope.

"The actual surgery lasted about 10 to 15 minutes. Anita kept totally still and was completely comfortable. We were 14,000 feet above sea level, and Anita was acclimatized to the low oxygen concentration. I, however, suffer from asthma and hay fever. I needed oxygen to carry out the surgery.

"I implanted a foldable silicone intraocular lens. It restored Anita's vision. She was so happy that she started kissing me."

R Dr. Agarwal and the ERC are now working to expand their efforts with the formation of the Rural Eye Care Network, a chain of small, high-tech eye hospitals to be situated 50 to 100 kilometers apart. "We've already started two free eye hospitals in the rural areas of Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Grahbrahvipalya in Karnataka."

The Tamil Nadu government has approved plans for a third hospital in Kuppidisatham. Dr. Agarwal is waiting for funding so that construction can begin. Until then, she'll continue to devote her time to the ERC, which karma continues to play a role in.

"Karma means thinking and doing the correct thing for the benefit of mankind."

She adds, "I'm committed to this rural eyecare scheme. When there are troubled times, in any part of the world -- should there be a need for me -- I'll be there."

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