About the Book

She was fashionable and rich. She wore stilettos and danced at the latest clubs and had dreams of going to London to become a famous paediatrician. But her destiny was elsewhere — in the dusty little village of Kapashera. This is a compelling and honest memoir of a young doctor who had to give up her dreams to face the challenges of a rural practice. She goes on to change the lives of her patients by treating not only their physical diseases but solving their psychological, marital, and adolescent issues. In four decades of her practice, the author watched as India woke up to globalisation, and the new farmland wealth that exposed the highs and lows of the human behaviour. There are horrific stories of the villagers’ superstitious beliefs and blind faith in the village quacks and voodoo doctors, with disastrous consequences. Yet there is joy, celebration, and hope amidst despair. Each story is part of a thirty-eight-year unhurried journey that holds you spellbound as you turn the pages.

About the Author

A graduate from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Dr Balesh Jindal has practised medicine for the last thirty-eight years. She has been a pioneer in providing a one-stop health facility at low cost and single-handedly changing the mortality rates for the children in Kapashera. Her work in treating Tuberculosis and HIV is well documented. She has been the recipient of the Award for Compassion by Stanford University’s Centre of Compassion. BBC has also featured her work The Most Compassionate Day in the World. In addition to her outstanding achievements as a Doctor, Jindal is also an accomplished artist, poet and badminton player.