Dr Mani is a pioneering nephrologist in India. He tells us about his mentors - right from the age of 7 or 8 years - when he decided to become a doctor - and how he stuck to the straight and narrow path, the razor's edge of medical practice in India. Dr Mani practised medicine in Government Medical College, Madras (now Chennai), before going to Australia for training in nephrology, then returning to India to work in Madras; and then at the Jaslok Hospital in Bombay (now Mumbai). Subsequently, he returned to his roots and has been at the Apollo Hospital, Chennai. Because this book was first published in 1989, the story ends in the 1980s. I had expected to see an update to this and would have liked to read about his life and work in Chennai. However, he has chosen not to make any changes from the first edition.