I t was 5 pm, 5th July, 2005 at Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai. Her handset rang. A colleague handed it over with a “Madam, it’s from the Philippines.” She took the call, wondering who it was from. “Doctor, this is Carmencita Abella,” said the voice from the other end. Abella was the President of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. “Congrats, madam. You have been chosen for this year’s Magsaysay Award.”

“I am honored, Abella. I am honored.”

“Doctor, please keep the information confidential until we announce it.”

“Sure, Abella.”

It was a pact Dr. Viswanathan Shanta would not maintain! She broke it, sharing the moment of glory with Dr. S Krishnamurthi, her friend and guide for 50 years. After all, she was being conferred what is widely recognized as Asia’s Nobel Prize.

“Wonderful! It will help us raise more funds,” said the founder-director of the Cancer Institute! Years ago, on his mother, Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy’s bidding, Krishnamurthi had returned from the U.S. to work in India. Over the years, he emerged as the doyen of oncology.

Shanta explains his words: “We are on a ‘mission’ of service. For us, awards have meaning only if they can further our mission.” A few days later, the goddess of cancer-care was on a flight to the Pearl of the Orient Seas to receive her prize.

That year, on August 29, Hurricane Katrina made two landfalls as a category 3 hurricane, devastating much of the U.S. Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,836 people, and causing over $125 billion in damage. Cancer mortality and cost is far more than this.

If there is one person who deserves the country’s highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, it is Dr. Shanta. The 92-year-old oncologist still sees patients at the Cancer Institute (WIA) twice a week, where she is the chairman. At a time when Mammon worship is fashionable, the doctor has made great efforts in creating affordable quality cancer-care for all.

‘Genius’ runs in Shanta’s DNA. Maternal grandfather C S Iyyar worked with the British Railways as Deputy Accountant General, and dad R Chandrasekhar was an eminent educationist. Not just that. Shanta is the niece of the Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist S Chandrasekhar. Legend has it that as a schoolboy, her uncle used to go to the beach and pray, ‘Oh God, may I be like Newton!’ She is also the grandniece of Nobel laureate and Bharat Ratna awardee Sir C V Raman. While Chandra was her maternal uncle, Raman was her maternal grandfather’s brother.

But it was a gynecologist, the first woman house surgeon in the Government Maternity Hospital, and social reformer, Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, who inspired Shanta. Of course, others had kindled the early interest. “When I was in the 8th standard, I told my mother that I wanted to be a doctor, and she was thrilled. She had herself aspired to be a nurse.” In 1954, Reddy would set up the Cancer Institute in memory of her sister, and Shanta would work there almost from day one.

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