From switchblade to scalpel: School ‘gangster’ is a neurosurgeon thanks to teacher

Kindness nurtures brilliance: Dr Parthiban visiting Lioe at the retirement home he pays for. With him are his son Laxmirayan and mother Sampuranam Ponalagu, 70.

PETALING JAYA: From a mischievous child in his early years and then a gangster in secondary school, nobody would have imagined that Parthiban Navoo would someday be performing brain surgery and saving lives.

With his poor grades, his school teachers had given up on him and often remarked that he would fail “even as a labourer.”