Pride and happiness were visible in the eyes of villagers from Modakurichi, a quaint town in Erode district. They were delighted that Dr Celine Gounder, who has her roots in their village, has been nominated by America’s President-elect Joe Biden as one of the 13 doctors to his COVID-19 task force on Monday.

Dr Celine Gounder being felicitated at Modakurichi Govt School in Erode

Coimbatore:

Forty-three-year-old Gounder’s father Raj Natarajan Gounder hailed from Perumapalayam village near Modakurichi. His story was that of rags to riches, as Natarajan, who hailed from a modest family, had done primary education in a government school in Perumapalayam and then PUC in Modakurichi government school.

A visibly joyous Annapurani, a close relative of Celine Gounder, distributed sweets to villagers on Monday. “Celine’s dad was my father’s brother. Though settled down in the US, she is benevolent and helped the people of Modakurichi through a trust named after her father,” she said.

The Modakurichi government school has been transformed with smart class rooms funded by the trust, which also works towards the cause of differently abled children by adopting them.

Devaraj, Celine’s cousin brother, said his uncle Natarajan was the first person from the village to become a graduate. He then went to the US for work in 1996 and got settled there and married a French woman in 1972.

He recalled that Celine visited their village a few years ago and delivered an inspiring speech at her father alma mater in Modakurichi. Villagers said that she had visited the village four times so far.

It was following the demise of her father on January 20, 2014, at the age of 70 that Celine, her two younger sisters and their mother last came to Modakurichi to perform final rites in their native village.

Celine who obtained Master’s of Science degree in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2000, was also a post-doctoral fellow in Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University. She will be among the panel of experts assisting Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and their transition team on COVID-19 related matters.