Dr. Jagannath Chodankar

Serving  humanity with a smile

-by William Fernandes

Dr.Jagannath (Urologist) ventured out for various opportunities to serving Indians, mostly Goans in the most humane way and ultimately joined the NRI CLUB 9 in the year 2004. CLUB 9, by then was an established organization - one amongst the many Goan associations which purely served charitable causes only with no vested interest whatsoever.

Dr.Jagannath, Born in 1970 to Mr. Ramnath Chodankar and Mrs. Sharmila Chodankar, in the State of Kuwait, to a Goan family, who shared their roots in Parra and Moira respectively in Bardez Taluka of Goa, He was raised along with his elder brother Mr. Kalidas, the younger brother Mr. Mahesh and youngest sister Mrs. Lata Lotlikar, in Kuwait.

Jagannath pursued his primary & secondary school in Indian School (now known as Indian Community School) and passed out in July 1988. After school completion, He pursued his Medical Career in J.N. Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, till he achieved his Master’s degree in Urology in 2001.

Jagannath then tied the knot with his friend & colleague Dr. Pooja Chodankar in 2000 and today is the proud father of three children till date. In September 2001, he  then came to Kuwait and have been working here since. During his stay here in Kuwait, he also managed to obtain his Super Specialization Degree from Strasbourg, France in Minimal Access Surgery.

During his tenure in Belgaum, he worked at the K.L.E.S. Hospital and Medical research Centre in the Urology department under the care of Prof. P. Venugopal. Here he was bestowed upon the responsibility to look after many Goan patients who came here to seek medical assistance for specialized surgical operations in Cardiac Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery and Urology.

This is when he had his first interaction with our fellow Goan brethren on a personal level which was a tremendous boost to my relations with my fellow Goans. Although it was a tedious task, it was indeed rewarding in the form of warm wishes and blessings, which he always desired for. Unfortunately this mesmerizing experience was short lived for two years only as had to proceed to Kuwait for his next assignment.

Once again back in Kuwait, Dr.Jagannath ventured out for various opportunities to serving Indians, mostly Goans in the most humane way and ultimately joined the NRI CLUB 9 in the year 2004. CLUB 9, by then was an established organization - one amongst the many Goan associations which purely served charitable causes only with no vested interest whatsoever.

Here he discovered a wonderful and dedicated team with a great team spirit, where each and every member treated the organization like its own baby. He met some wonderful people like Mr. Albano Pinto, Mr. Aldrin Menses, Mr. Delphi Fernandes, Mr. Roshan Lorena etc who were like minded people when it came to charitable intentions. Eventually he was designated as its President in the year 2006 as per the request of the Club members.

CLUB 9, have had till date, conducted five annual Goan shows with two mid-year Goan Food Festivals and have managed to collect sufficient funds, all of which we use to support Daddy’s Home, a home for the mentally and physically handicapped children based in Gogol, Margao, Goa, which is looked after by Fr. Valmiki Dias.

Till date, we are proud to say we have 88 children under the roof of Daddy’s Home, who are well looked after in the most special way just because these children are very special to us .

Here in Kuwait, he also happened to be one of  the founder members of the Indian Doctors Forum (IDF), which is an organization of 500 Indian doctors working in Kuwait, established in May 2004. To start with, he was the Website Administrator under the leadership of stalwarts like Dr. N. Nampoory, Dr. Ramesh Pandita, Dr. Amir Ahmed etc and was responsible for the launching of the website www.indiandoctorsforum.org along with sincere and genuine help rendered by Mr. Raymond Pereira. 

IDF has successfully conducted more than 150 free health screening camps in the last 9 years, for various sections of the Indian community with the target patient population mainly being the low socio-economic group of the Indian Community. In addition to this, IDF also carries out various other community welfare activities like Seminars, Lectures, School Health Programs and Meet the specialist sessions with the sole intention of spreading knowledge and health care education to the masses.

All said and done, there is no turning back and now Dr. Jagannath is in the process of setting up a Medical Tourism company in Kuwait, through which he wishes to route patients from Kuwait to India seeking medical treatment with the prime intention of supporting and helping the deprived and financially burdened Goan population. Hoping and praying that this venture also turns out to be equally successful.

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