Premanand Shantaram Ramani, born 30th November 1938, in the village of Wadi, near Ponda, Goa, was one of six siblings, in a family, raised by their mother amidst hard times. An inquisitive, keen individual right from childhood, be it learning Portuguese in record time, topping his class unfailingly, or coping with changing schools, friends and living away from his mother at a very young age.

A positive attitude that took all obstacles in its stride, and a untiring capacity for relentless hard work and determination saw him rise from his small village school, to the district college, then to medical school in the then Bombay and from there to higher education abroad. Coupled with this thirst for knowledge was the passion to make breakthroughs in the grey areas in medicine and surgery at the time, which made him choose neurosurgery over more well-trodden paths of medicine. A desire to ease the pain of patients suffering from disorders of the spine especially where no such care was easily available, made him give up promising prospects abroad and return to his motherland, serving his countrymen - alleviating their pain and suffering.

Amongst his various pioneering efforts, was setting up an up-to-date neurosurgery department in the Sion Hospital in Bombay, several breakthroughs in surgical techniques that helped minimize the perception of pain and suffering till then associated with neurosurgery, mastering and patenting techniques such as PLIF, IDSS, Anterior Cervical Fusion, Transoral Surgery, etc.

Dr Ramani's thirst for knowledge is matched only by his desire to share that knowledge with as many doctors, students, medical practitioners and even the general public at large. Teaching is in fact one of his favorite activities, besides reading, trekking and travelling extensively all over the world.

An extremely soft spoken and mild mannered gentleman, he has been ably supported in his arduous but equally spellbinding journey in the field of medicine and life in general, by his wife Pratima, a sociologist by training and now the lady of the house. Their two children, Anup and Anjali have excelled in their respective fields in their own right.

Dr Anup is M.S. General Surgery (Distinction) and M.Ch. Urological Surgery (Gold Medal) DNB General & Urological Surgery and did his fellowship in Laparoscopic Urological Surgery from Cleaveland USA and is at present Director - Laparoscopic Division, Urological Surgery, University of Minneapolis, USA

Their daughter Anjali, graduated from Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in Commercial Art, did her Masters in Commercial Art (Advertising) at the Academy of Art College, San Francisco, USA and is currently working as an Art Director at Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai.

The third generation comprises of their grandchildren Rohan and Rishi and this completes the picture of the content and happy family man that is Dr P S Ramani today.