Sitting by the pool on a scorching hot Sunday, I admired the swimmers as they prepared for an upcoming triathlon. My gaze gradually wandered off and fell on an old friend: Anna, who was 62 but still a strong swimmer, had been certified blind in her right eye for many years. I was amazed as I watched her read with that right eye and a patch on the other. My curiosity got the better of me as I walked over to her wanting an explanation for this seemingly miraculous healing.
Anna explained to me that she had undergone surgery with a passionate eye surgeon, Dr. Rajesh Khanna, who was using technologies of the 21st century combined with decades of experience to revisit and fix the untreatable eye maladies of the 20th century. Anna also told me that she had met Dr. Khanna through a close family of friends. The family had suffered for years from very poor eyesight due to a variety of ailments that until recently were unfixable. For example, the father, Tom, a movie actor, had to wear contact lenses in front of the cameras. The glare from the bright stage lights made his eyes dry and irritated causing the contact lenses to feel like sharp stones in his eyes. He underwent activetrak Superlasik which removed his need to wear contacts and allowed him to see with perfect clarity even enhancing his acting abilities. Tom’s wife, Sue, had to wear thick coke bottle glasses because she had thin and weak corneas. She had an Intacs procedure which improved her vision; allowing her to catch students texting in the very back of the classroom. Zak, their son, was a senior in high school and had a lazy eye. Something no teenager should need to worry about in this chaotic time of life. He had his eyes whipped into shape using advanced wavefront technology coupled with thin flap Lasik. Also, Zak’s grandmother, Beverly, an active philanthropist, had failing vision which was transformed into amazing vision with a presbyopic implant and LRI procedure.
Such an amazing doctor. I just had to find out for myself; so I set up an appointment for the following week to meet him in his Beverly Hills office which was closer to me than his office in Westlake Village. The day arrived and I was full of excitement and curiosity as to discovering what kind of man I was meeting. As I entered, a friendly receptionist greeted and offered me coffee, standard for all patients, which I accepted. Sitting in a nice waiting room I started to glance at the walls which were adorned with pictures of his celebrity patients. I also read many testimonials from other doctors and previous patients (from autistic patients, from firemen, navy, armed forces, accountants, attorneys, etc.) who trusted him with their eyes and by an extension their lives; the letters were emotional, but a common theme of deep gratitude emerged.
The first time I met Dr. Khanna I thought looks can be deceptive because he looked younger than I had initially had gathered from reading the testimonials. As we started to talk, I found out that he is an avid swimmer, tennis player and plays field hockey which answered why he looked so young. Doing all that while balancing a happy family and managing his business and surgeries I wondered what kind of strength he had to able to do all this without burning out. That strength turned out to be his passion for restoring peoples’ eyesight and helping them lead better lives because of it. The extensive training and his experience transcending two decades, hands with a light touch and amazing dexterity (vetted by his peers), and evident great bedside manner makes him quite unique in this day and age.
Dr Khanna’s offices boast all the latest kinds of lasers, as he believes that different eyes may have a different “best laser” for them and there is no universal best laser. Many accolades have followed him: with him being selected for Congressional order of merit, chosen as amongst the best ophthalmologists in the United States, with readers of newspapers having consistently voting him as the best doctor in Los Angeles, the list is too long to write.
Dr. Khanna has not forgotten his humble roots and beginnings. He regularly donates his services to the less fortunate and even gives them free glasses and is currently working with Wounded Warrior and Watering Seeds Projects to help the people who protect this country. He has recently donated Lasik to Impact, which helps rehabilitate kids. All this stems from passion for his work, love for his patients, and a belief in positive thinking. Each day is a new opportunity for helping someone see better.
Thank you Dr.Khanna, for generating hope and spreading eyesight!

Dr. Rajesh Khanna can be reached at: 1-877-2KHANNA, lasik@khannainstitute.com, www.khannaInstitute.com