From selling vegetables with her mother to treating cancer patients: Padma Shri Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshmane's story is something every woman should read

Every morning before school, little Vijayalakshmi would help her mother carry baskets of vegetables. After classes, she would be back on the streets again, selling them from house to house in Kalaburagi, Karnataka.

At the time, becoming a doctor wasn't even a dream. It felt too far away.Money was always short. Her parents couldn't read or write. There were eight children to raise. Yet, inside that modest home was one belief that never changed: education was the only way their children could build a different life.

Years later, that little girl would become one of India's best-known cancer surgeons, treat thousands of cancer patients and receive the Padma Shri in 2025 for her contribution.Looking back, Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshmane says none of it would have been possible without her parents. "My parents, though illiterate, had decided to provide a good education to their children," she said in a conversation with The New Indian Express.

A childhood where every rupee mattered

As per various media sources, Vijayalakshmi was born in 1955 in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district. She grew up in a family that knew struggle all too well. Her father, Baburao Deshmane, worked as a labourer at a mill and was also a freedom fighter and social worker.

Her mother, Ratnamma, earned whatever she could by selling fruits and vegetables. She would first go from door to door, then spend the rest of the day sitting under a neem tree selling whatever was left.Vijayalakshmi never saw helping her mother as a burden. It was simply what children did. She studied in a Kannada-medium school, while balancing studies with work at home.Despite their financial struggles, her parents never allowed poverty to become an excuse.

Their faith in education transformed the entire family. Of their eight children, six eventually earned PhDs.

The mother’s sacrifice she can never forget

Getting admission into medical college was a huge achievement. Finding the money to pay the fees was even harder. When the family couldn't arrange the amount, her mother sold her mangalsutra. That one decision stayed with Vijayalakshmi for the rest of her life. "When I was joining MBBS, we faced financial crises and my mother sold her mangalsutra to pay the fee," she recalled in an interview.

The failure that almost ended her dream

Medical college wasn't the fairy tale many imagine. Having studied entirely in Kannada, she suddenly had to learn medicine in English. The textbooks felt impossible. In her first year of MBBS, she failed physiology. She was devastated. "When I failed physiology, I packed my bags and went home, thinking it was over," she told the Indian Express.Then came an unexpected lesson: not from a professor, but from her youngest sister.

"She told me, 'I failed in first grade, but I didn't cry like you.' That hit me." She returned to college, worked relentlessly and slowly found her confidence again. The same student who once thought she would never become a doctor went on to complete her MBBS and later earned an MS in General Surgery from Bellary Medical College in 1984, becoming the first woman to do so there.

“Give me surgery”

Even after qualifying, people continued to doubt her. Surgery was considered a man's field, and many believed women should stick to gynaecology.

When she interviewed for Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, she was encouraged to choose the "more suitable" option. She refused. "They offered gynaecology, assuming it suited girls. I insisted, 'Give me surgery,'" she told the Indian Express.That decision shaped the rest of her career. She joined Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology as a resident doctor and steadily rose through the ranks. In 1994, she became the institute's first woman professor.

Later, she went on to serve as Head of Department, Dean and Director.

The patient who changed her life

Over the years, Dr Deshmane treated thousands of cancer patients, especially women with breast cancer. She also witnessed how dramatically cancer treatment changed. "Now, cancer is like diabetes or hypertension. Even stage-four patients go home smiling, thanks to the advancement of research and technology."But not every story had a happy ending. She still remembers a patient from Bidar (Karnataka) who died on the operating table because of severe bleeding.

"It was a dreadful experience. I couldn't sleep for eight days," she recalled. The loss stayed with her, reminding her that behind every medical case was someone's family waiting outside the operation theatre.

When cancer took away her own

Cancer eventually entered her own home. She lost both her mother and her sister, Nagaratna, to the disease. Instead of stepping away, she became even more determined to fight it. She devoted herself to spreading awareness about early detection and breast cancer screening and later worked on research into hereditary cancers using artificial intelligence.

For Dr Deshmane, every breakthrough meant another family might not have to experience the loss she had.

Why she never married

People have often asked why she chose not to marry. Her answer has always been simple. "In cancer, you give everything to patients." Even after retiring from government service, she continues to see patients and offers free consultations to those who cannot afford treatment. For her, the biggest reward has never been awards.

"The true award is when a woman who couldn't afford treatment walks away cancer-free. That's why I became a doctor," she said.

Then came the Padma Shri

In 2025, she was awarded the Padma Shri for her contributions to medicine and oncology. Ask Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshmane what success means, and she doesn't talk about titles or recognition. She talks about smiles. "When patients go home smiling, that smile is something you will not find anywhere else in the world," she says.It is a fitting thought from a woman who once walked the streets selling vegetables with her mother and went on to spend her life giving people something far more valuable than medicine: hope.