And if I hated my father, did that mean I hated the parts of me that were him?

He had come from Britain to work with Indian soldiers—many of whom had fought for England in the First World War—when

My skills, my eagerness to learn, my desire for a life I could call my own—these were things I would take with me. They were a part of me the way my blood, my breath, my bones were.

With Radha I could only guide and suggest. She was strong-willed and preferred her own counsel. I had learned that much.

Success was ephemeral—and fluid—as I’d found out the hard way. It came. It went. It changed you from the outside, but not from the inside. Inside, I was still the same girl who dreamed of a destiny greater than she was allowed. Did I really need the house to prove I had skill, talent, ambition, intelligence?

This was how my saas had taught me to show my love. Not with words or touch but through healing.

I’ve begun to see that the herbal remedies of the Himalayan people have a place in modern medicine. If their homemade poultices and potions didn’t work...well, they wouldn’t still be using them.”

People are more gullible, and less compassionate, than any of us want to believe, don’t you agree?”

Day after day, I worked alongside her to heal women—most were children still, twenty years old or younger, bodies weak from too many births, too many of them rough. Their days were filled with worry about how to feed their brood; at night they prayed their husbands would come home from labor too tired to add to their troubles. One day Saasuji