If you had seen Kollywood film Mersal by actor Vijay, then you’d be familiar with his character: a doctor who only charges Rs 5 for treating his patients.
The character was inspired by a couple of real life doctors in Chennai. One of them was Dr S Jayachandran from North Chennai, often touted as the ‘Two Rupee Doctor’.
Jayachandran brought about a revolution in the medical practice scene in Chennai when he started off charging his patients – who were mostly underprivileged working class people – a nominal fee of Rs 2 to treat them.
And he continued to do so for decades, until he breathed his last.
After suffering for several months, he finally succumbed to his illness on Dec 20, 2018, leaving Old Washermanpet in a state of mourning.
According to this report, his long time friend Thooyamurthy shared a few anecdotes from Jayachandran’s life as a doctor.
People would begin queuing up at his clinic since 4:30 am. On an average, he treated about 250 patients every day, sometimes offering medicines for free.Thooyamurthy
"The physician used to charge only Rs 2 from each patient and continued to collect the same fee till 1998. Later he revised it to Rs 5 and then Rs 10,” Thooyamurthy added.