The Indira Gandhi of AIIMS

Few can claim a first-day-at-work as heart-stopping as Sneh Bhargava. The day she walked into AIIMS as the institution's first woman director in October 1984, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the person who had approved her appointment, was rushed into emergency surgery with severe gunshot wounds.

- Neha Bhatt

In those overwhelmingly tense moments, Dr Bhargava was pushed into the deep end, forced to manage a situation of monumental national significance.

Days later, as the staff at AIIMS tended to scores of injured Sikhs and Hindus who were attacked in the anti-Sikh riots, Dr Bhargava ensured that Sikh staff and students on campus felt safe and protected.

It is one of the many anecdotes in Dr Bhargava's compelling memoir that illustrate her role in some of India's most transformative medical moments. Now 95 years old, she reflects on how the responsibility of leading an institution like AIIMS was a heavy one, with constant pressures: A changing disease profile with more chronic conditions, a deluge of patients, shortages of funds and nursing staff, a housing crisis for doctors, dealing with obnoxious VIPs, and changing political winds.