Against All Odds: A Story of Survival, Family, and Unbreakable Spirit

Against All Odds: A Story of Survival, Family, and Unbreakable Spirit

The amazing story of Dr. Radha Krishnan's family. They went from Burma, a country broken by war, to America to heal people

A Young Boy's Life Changes
In 1940, Rangoon, Burma, was busy. Three-year-old Radha Krishnan did not know his life would soon turn over. His father, Mr. Kannuswamy, had studied at Rangoon University and worked for the British government. He was an educated man who had hope for his family. Like many educated Indians in Burma, the Krishnan family had made a good life there. But when they heard the BBC News on their special radio, the news of World War II brought trouble. Burma, now called Myanmar, was becoming a battleground. The Krishnan family would soon learn what it takes to survive hard times.

The War Comes Home
Japanese soldiers invaded Burma. They saw Mr. Kannuswamy's radio. They did not see a father trying to hear the news. They thought he was a spy for the British, Dr. Krishnan later said. A loving father was taken away quickly. He left his wife and three small sons: Radha (3), Raman (5), and baby Ragunathan (6 months old)

Forced to Build the Death Railway
What happened next was a horrible part of World War II. Mr. Kannuswamy was forced to march to the Thailand border. He and 40 or 50 other educated Indian men became prisoners. They had to build two bridges across the River Kwai for the "Death Railway." This 415-kilometer railroad track between Thailand and Burma was forced labor.  Historians say this project killed more than 150,000 Tamils and over 90,000 Asian workers in total. The conditions were terrible. Prisoners worked long hours with almost no food or medical help. They faced constant, harsh punishment.
 
Meanwhile, back in Rangoon, his wife had to find a way to keep her three sons alive. She was an educated woman, but she took work as a housekeeper. She scrubbed floors and cleaned homes just to feed her family. She showed the strength of mothers who hold families together when everything else falls apart.

An Impossible Escape
Then came a day that felt like a miracle. Allied planes bombed the wooden bridge. Mr. Kannuswamy was working close by on the concrete bridge. When everything broke and chaos began, he made a life-changing choice: he jumped into the River Kwai and swam for freedom.

Imagine his courage. After years of being held captive, starved, and treated badly, he swam for miles. For four or five weeks, he walked and hid through the jungle until he finally reached his family. It must have felt like he had come back to life.

A New Start in India
The war ended in 1945. This brought freedom, but not an easy life. Mr. Kannuswamy worked again for the British. But when Burma became independent in 1947, life became unsure. The new Burmese government started making life hard for the Indian community. The government’s goal was to force Indians to leave.  

The Krishnan family realized their sons would need better schooling. They made the tough choice to move to India. In 1952-1953, the family sailed from Rangoon to Madras. Even though they had survived war, they were now refugees in their ancestral land. They stayed in areas near the Burma Bazaar , and newspapers like The Hindu told their story. These mass movements of Indians continued after a military takeover in 1962. Hundreds of thousands of Indians, mostly Tamils, were forced out of Burma in the 1960s.  

The Power of Family Love
But the story has a good part here. Dr. Krishnan's grandparents read the newspapers. They saw their family's pictures and stories. They traveled at once to bring them home to Thiruvarur in Tanjore District, Tamil Nadu. Family love was their rescue in a world that had been harsh.

Yet, Mr. Kannuswamy had grown up "in British way of life." He felt like he did not fit in the Indian culture. When the Burmese government asked him to come back to help run the government, he made the hard choice to return alone for a time. He worked in Burma for over ten years before he returned to India when he was 70. He passed away at 78, and his wife lived until 86. They survived war, separation, and being forced out of their home, but they survived it together.

A Family's Strong Spirit
Dr. Radha Krishnan's own story shows how strong the human spirit can be. He went from a three-year-old boy whose father was taken away by war to a beloved doctor in America. He got his medical degree in Madras in 1959.  

When he came to America in the 1970s, he chose to live in Bluefield, West Virginia. He specialized in treating coal miners with black lung disease. His father survived the Death Railway; he would spend his life healing people whose work hurt their lungs. This service is a family tradition. His sons have continued this high level of work by working in the healthcare field.

The Meaning of This Story
This family story reminds us that every number in a refugee crisis is a person with amazing courage. Their travels show us that home is what we carry inside and what we build wherever we land.
Mr. Kannuswamy’s leap into the River Kwai was not just an escape. It was a leap of faith for a better future for his children. That three-year-old boy grew up to become Dr. Radha Krishnan, a doctor who spent 37 years helping others.
That is the true link his father built. It is a link across generations, from surviving to serving, from suffering to healing.

Why I wrote this story
I have been interested in Dr. Radha Krishnan’s life ever since I was a teenager in India. My father had told me bits and pieces of this story. Later, when I was studying at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, I had the chance to meet both Dr. Krishnan and his wife, Prema. Meeting them in person made their family’s story of surviving war and rebuilding their lives even more real to me. I have always been fascinated by their experience, and I wanted to share it so others could appreciate their courage and strong family bond.

Dr Sudesh Kannan October 2025

Photos below: The building of the bridge over the River Kwai taken by a prisoner of war, 1943 (c)  https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1989-04-116-3100-2

Refugees traveling by wooden cart in South Asia during World War II exodus from Burma to India. After his escape from Bridge on the River Kwai, Mr Kannuswamy walked among these refugees to reach home. 
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/refugees-in-south-asia-during-second-world-war-1939-1945/

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