The First Lady Of Mental Health
Reader's Digest India|August 2021
Even at 98, Sarada Menon, India’s first woman psychiatrist, is easing the pain of our mental anguish
Bhavya Dore
The First Lady Of Mental Health

Sarada Menon chortles heartily. The 98-year-old is stumped by the question: How many patients has she treated in her long and storied career in psychiatry? “That’s too much to ask, I don’t know,” she says. At least 1,000? “Yes, yes,” she concedes.

Other numbers are easier to pin down. The number of women psychiatrists in India before her: zero. The languages she speaks fluently: four. Her current enthusiasm levels: infinite. She’s received a Padma Bhushan, built and led institutions, worked on prison reform and in flood-prone districts. She has researched, rehabilitated, taught, treated; and packed a bursting resume ever since she finished her MBBS in 1947.

Menon is speaking with me over Skype from her home in Chennai where she still practises, seeing patients daily online. Bespectacled, and quick to smile, she wears her sari crisply and her pioneering status lightly. “I went from day to day, doing what I had to do. I didn’t think about other things,” she says. “How to better the effects of our treatments, was my only goal. I never bothered about anything else.”

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM READER'S DIGEST INDIAView all
From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi
Reader's Digest India

From the King's Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi

Pushpesh Pant, one of India’s pre-eminent food writers, is back with a comprehensive food history of the capital.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
Who Wants Coffee?
Reader's Digest India

Who Wants Coffee?

It’s bitter—but beloved around the world

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
Prevent The Pain Of Shingles
Reader's Digest India

Prevent The Pain Of Shingles

You don't have to suffer, as long as you take two important steps

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
The Best And Worst Diets For Your Heart
Reader's Digest India

The Best And Worst Diets For Your Heart

Dozens of diets are touted as ‘best’, but it’s easy to lose track of the fact that healthy eating needs to be about overall wellness, not just weight loss.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
ME & MY SHELF
Reader's Digest India

ME & MY SHELF

Journalist Sopan Joshi has worked in a science and environment framework for nearly three decades. His book Mangifera indica: A Biography of the Mango (Aleph Book Company) synthesizes the sensory appeal of India's favourite fruit with its elaborate cultural roots and natural history. He writes in English and Hindi.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
SWITCHED
Reader's Digest India

SWITCHED

In 1962, nurses at a small Canadian hospital sent home two women with the wrong babies. Then, 50 years later, their children discovered the shocking mistake.

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 2024
ECHOES OF THE PAST
Reader's Digest India

ECHOES OF THE PAST

A VISIT TO THE ANCIENT BARABAR CAVES IN BIHAR REVEALS A SURPRISING CONNECTION TO A LITERARY CLASSIC

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2024
Fathers of the Bride
Reader's Digest India

Fathers of the Bride

A young woman finds a unique way to honour the many men who helped her survive her childhood

time-read
8 mins  |
October 2024
Fiction's Foresight
Reader's Digest India

Fiction's Foresight

British-Bangladeshi author Manzu Islam's works reveal startling parallels to recent political upheavals in Bangladesh, begging the question: Besides helping us make sense of our world, can stories also offer a glimpse into the future?

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2024
It Happens ONLY IN INDIA
Reader's Digest India

It Happens ONLY IN INDIA

The Divine Defence Picture this: A tractor in Rajasthan‘s Banswara district,a group of loan agents closing in to seize it and the defaulting farmer and his family standing by.

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024