"I'm an Uttarakhandi. But born in Lucknow, medical education and practice in Kanpur and in the US and in Delhi. My only connect to Uttarakhand was summer vacations in Nainital during my schooldays.
Then came the Uttarkashi earthquake, 1991. I spent a few weeks there to oversee the relief work undertaken by Swami Rama. That brought me face to face with the plight of the people in my home-state living in the villages perched on steep mountains.
I then founded Family Welfare Foundation of India to bring some medical care to the doorsteps of the villagers. The Foundation's USP was that we neither sought nor accepted any donation from any one - individual, institution or govt.
In 1999, we became one of the few NGOs from India to be accredited by the United Nations (UN).
Till date, we remain the only NGO in the UN system that does not accept donations from any one.
I also did bit of work for the setting-up of Swami Rama medical college, now Swami Rama University. I was also a Professor in the college and also trained the faculty in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS).
My work in Uttarakhand has been the best part of my life's journey."
Extract from my acceptance speech at the Daughter of Uttarakhand Award.
Since I was away, my nieces, Dr Monika Pant and Dr Rashmi Malhotra accepted the award and Dr Monika read out my speech.
