As an afterword, Dr Kavery Nambisan refers to her book as a “self-portrait”. It is when I reached this part of the book, that all the events, incidents, anecdotes, and stories fell into place and made sense. I had the urge to re-read the book from the start. In fact, the second reading was far more rewarding than the first. I could understand the reason why Dr Nambisan had organised her material the way she had, and marvelled at the brilliance of the sometimes jerky narrative. But I must first describe what I felt during my initial reading.