Welcome to YAY EYE – a blog that is dedicated to simplifying eye care and to helping people make informed eye care decisions.
My name is Ayyappa Reddy Mallidi. I’m an Ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist.
Back in 2004, during my 12th standard, inspired by lord of the rings movies and frustrated by the biology classes, I wrote a 20 page story ‘War of the poles’. It is about a dystopian future where humans evolve into two different species that live in the north pole and south pole. And as you can guess from the title, the north and south pole species fight for dominance. I was proud of myself. Not because my friends loved it. I enjoyed the process of writing. That is when I realized that writing is my passion.
I decided that I would become a writer.
I joined MBBS and the writer in me went into perpetual hibernation.
It was 2008, and I was in my 3rd year of MBBS. After watching Kamal Hasan’s ‘Dasavatharam’ movie, I along with my friends recorded a fun video. I edited it, added some titles and music. And that was an instant hit in college.
(That video is still with me. My friends, who acted in that video, are respected doctors now. They would do anything to not leak it on social media. So, although I have the intense itch to post it on youtube, I won’t do it for my own safety.)
That was when I realised that making videos is my second passion.
I decided that I would become a filmmaker.
I joined post graduation in ophthalmology and you can guess what happened to the filmmaker in me.
2020, COVID happened. People were stuck at their homes and suddenly, there was an information overload everywhere. The doctors were too busy treating COVID patients and there was no one to correct the misinformation. It was not just misinformation. It was the ONLY information, and it spread like wildfire. People followed that. The suffering got prolonged. Some even lost their lives.
That is when I realised that this was not just the case during covid. Misinformation was always there. COVID just magnified the proportions. People were always searching for authentic information and guidance.
The worst part is that, when the doctor gives us an option to choose from, we have no clue on what to choose. And we hardly get 5 mins to take the most important health decisions of our lives.
I realised that a doctor’s responsibility is not just to treat a disease but also to guide the people towards authentic information and correct decision making.
And the writer and filmmaker in me woke up. I realised that I have the necessary skills to take up the responsibility. I realised that this would be a greater service to society than just treating the disease.
And so, I started the YAY EYE blog and youtube channel.
I named it YAY EYE because whenever we are happy and excited, we say YAYYY…. I want everyone to be happy and excited while making health care decisions, not confused or worried. We should be happy because we are selecting a solution to correct our problem. That happiness comes when we have the correct information beforehand and YAY EYE is going to provide you with it. (Also research has shown that people who are positive before a surgery or procedure have better outcomes than those that are tensed or worried)
I hope you will find this blog helpful.
With love,
Ayyappa