Canberra Dentist Dr Naren Chellapah awarded OAM
for Selfless Service in Laos and India

In the 2011 Queens Birthday honours list, an Australian Sai Devotee was recognised as a quite achiver and awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for selfless service.

Canberra dentist Dr Naren Chellappah spends several months of each year away from his practice in Weston, to volunteer in clinics in Laos and India.

Dr Chellappah says helping others has enriched his life beyond measure, and he feels lucky to have had the chance to give something back.

"Any clinician will tell you that the nicest thing about work is to see people's faces when pain has been relieved. It's very satisfying. I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to do that," he said.

Dr Naren Chellappah has been a prominent and active member of the Sathya Sai Organisation since its inception in Canberra during the late 1980s.

Dr Chellappah has devoted his time to serve the community with a selfless attitude. He has been serving the Canberra community as a dentist for over twenty years. He often goes beyond his call of duty by treating patients with unanticipated empathy and compassion. Just one example of this, includes Dr Chellappah's initiative to call his patients after hours to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

True to his charitable nature, Dr Chellappah often directs his patients to donate dental fees to a charity of their choice. His intrinsic need to help the less fortunate in any way exemplifies his true Australian spirit.

His most outstanding service through the Organisation is his voluntary work in Laos and India. He travels to these countries at his own cost, three times a year and provides dental treatment free of charge, at the local Sathya Sai hospital for a minimum period of two weeks on each trip. This usually means that he is away from his practice in Canberra during this time and he takes these service trips in place of majority of his holidays.

However, Dr Chellappah's service to the community is not confined to his profession. For many years he has spent his weekends providing assistance to the elderly in nursing homes; offering intellectual stimulation, physical support to those who require it, and offcourse his characteristic warmth and pleasant atmosphere. He also proudly takes part in other service activities organised by Greening Australia and Clean-up Australia whenever he gets the chance and time.

Two of the fundamental values that the Sathya Sai Organisation is based on are: Love All, Serve All and Help Ever, Hurt Never. Dr Chellappah has not only taken these two principles up as mottos to his dental surgery, but embodies them in all his work and encourages all those who surround him to do the same.

When it comes to service for the less fortunate, Dr Chellappah is in his element and he does this with great humility. He often says that the joy that this service brings him is his own reward.