This story spans from late seventies to the turn of this century. A simple girl from a small town, brought up on strong middle-class values by literate and hard working parents, who value education fore-most. She studies to be a doctor in a semi- urban town, goes through the pleasures and pains of professional college, makes friends for a lifetime. Defying societal laws, she takes up surgery as her specialization, the first woman to do so in that college. She faces tremendous resistance not only from her conservative bosses but also some colleagues who feel that girls have no place in their surgical world. Her values draw her towards the poor and needy who can ill- afford expensive medical treatment which take her to a small town for setting up her own facility. From crooked referral doctors to scheming senior colleagues, she faces difficulty at every stage.
Life sends her back to school to become a neuro- surgeon, and across the world. She returns to India equipped with the most advanced skills to treat a dreaded neurological problem. She has risen above so much that the world cannot stop her from reaching new heights of success, in spite of being a woman in a man’s world..
The friends she makes, the doctors who work with her, the relationships she forms, all form the tapestry of her enriched life.

Dr. Reina Khadilkar completed her medical under-graduation & postgraduation in surgery from Government Medical College, Aurangabad in 1987. She was one of the few girls to take up surgery during her time. She has been practicing as a surgeon with the skills of a doctor & compassion of a woman. She is at present based in Pune, Maharashtra. She is happily married to Dr. Madhav, an Orthopedic surgeon & has two grown up children. She attributes her literary effort not only to the education she received but the sensitivity to appreciate human nature instilled in her by her parents. She loves to read fiction & non-fiction, is learning semi-classical music, loves to listen to Hindustani classical vocal & is happiest teaching her favourite subject, surgery.The author can be reached at reinakka@rediffmail.com