Bengaluru: Long before Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshmane became a respected surgical oncologist, cancer researcher and Padma Shri awardee, her days began beside her mother at a fruit and vegetable stall.
Born in 1955 into a financially struggling family in Karnataka, Deshmane grew up understanding the value of hard work from an early age. She helped her mother sell fruits and vegetables before and after school while continuing her education.
Her journey to medicine was anything but easy. Financial hardship, studying in Kannada medium, difficulty with English and even failure in medical college nearly brought her dream of becoming a doctor to an end.
But she returned to her studies, completed her medical education and went on to break barriers in surgical oncology.
Her life is now remembered as a story of determination, service and resilience — a journey from a modest childhood to the forefront of cancer care.
Her mother’s struggle shaped her early years
Deshmane was one of eight children in the family.
Her father, Baburao Deshmane, worked as a labourer and had also participated in the freedom struggle. Her mother, Ratnamma, supported the family by selling fruits and vegetables.
The family’s financial circumstances meant that education could never be taken for granted.
Deshmane attended a Kannada-medium school and helped her mother with the vegetable business around her school hours. Yet her father encouraged her to dream of becoming a surgeon.
That dream stayed with her even when circumstances made it seem difficult to achieve.
When she eventually entered medical college, the financial burden became even heavier. According to accounts of her life, her mother sold her mangalsutra to help meet her daughter’s medical expenses.
For Deshmane, that sacrifice became another reason to keep going.
One failure almost changed everything
Medical college brought a new challenge.
Deshmane had studied in Kannada medium and found English difficult. She also failed physiology at one stage of her medical education.
The setback affected her deeply.
Disheartened, she packed her belongings and decided to return home rather than continue with medicine.
But her younger sister intervened.
Her sister reminded her that failure did not have to determine the rest of her life and encouraged her to return to college.
Deshmane listened.
She went back, resumed her studies and eventually completed her MBBS from Karnataka Medical College in Hubballi.
The episode became an early lesson in perseverance — one that would prove valuable throughout her career.
She chose surgery when few expected her to
Becoming a doctor was only the beginning.
Deshmane entered surgery at a time when women were often steered towards specialties considered more traditionally suitable for them.
She recalled being questioned about what kind of surgery a woman could perform. At one point, she was offered gynaecology instead.
Her response was direct:
“Give me surgery.”
That determination helped shape the career that followed.
She joined Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bengaluru as a resident doctor and gradually established herself in the field of surgical oncology.
Her career would eventually take her into positions that had rarely been occupied by women at the time.
She broke a barrier at Kidwai
In 1994, Deshmane became the first woman professor at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology.
She later served as professor and head of the Department of Surgical Oncology and also took on the role of director-in-charge of the institute.
Her work was not limited to performing operations.
She trained generations of doctors, contributed to surgical-oncology education and worked to improve access to cancer care.
Over approximately three decades at Kidwai, she became closely associated with efforts to strengthen cancer treatment and research.
Her rise through the institution was significant not only because of her medical achievements but also because she opened doors for other women entering surgical specialties.
Breast cancer became close to her heart
Breast cancer became one of the major areas of Deshmane’s professional work.
She participated in international breast-cancer research projects and contributed to efforts aimed at improving treatment and surgical practices.
But cancer was not merely a professional subject for her.
It eventually touched her own family.
Her mother and one of her sisters died of cancer.
Those personal losses deepened her commitment to cancer awareness, early detection and research.
Her work consequently extended beyond the operating theatre. She became an advocate for greater awareness and better understanding of cancer, particularly breast cancer.
Her patients were not her only legacy
One of Deshmane’s most lasting contributions has been the doctors she helped train.
Medicine is often measured through the patients treated and lives saved, but senior doctors can also leave a legacy through the people they teach.
By training young doctors in surgical oncology, Deshmane helped build professional capacity that could continue serving patients long after her own surgical career.
Her emphasis on education and research therefore became an important part of her contribution to cancer care.
The impact of such work is often less visible than a major operation, but its influence can spread across generations of medical professionals.
Retirement did not stop her work
Deshmane retired from surgical practice in 2015, but retirement did not mark the end of her public service.
She continued to be involved in cancer awareness and social initiatives.
She also served as president of Abalashrama, an organisation in Bengaluru working to support orphaned girls.
Her later work reflected the same commitment to service that had shaped her medical career.
She also held leadership responsibilities connected with institutions including the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research.
Medicine remained an important part of her identity, but her contribution increasingly extended into social service and institutional leadership.
Recognition came after decades of service
In 2025, the Government of India honoured Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshmane with the Padma Shri for her contribution to oncology and breast-cancer research.
The award recognised a career that had crossed several barriers — economic hardship, language difficulties, academic setbacks and gender expectations within surgery.
Yet the Padma Shri represents only one part of her story.
The deeper significance of her journey lies in the distance between where she began and what she eventually achieved.
The young girl who helped her mother sell vegetables became a medical student whose education was almost interrupted by failure. She returned to complete her degree, chose surgery, entered oncology and eventually became the first woman professor at one of Bengaluru’s leading cancer institutes.
A journey that began with sacrifice
Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshmane’s story is more than a conventional tale of professional success.
It is a reminder of how opportunity can emerge from difficult beginnings — and how personal struggles can eventually become the foundation for helping others.
Her mother’s sacrifice helped keep her education alive. Her sister’s encouragement brought her back after failure. Her father’s early belief in her helped shape her ambition.
Later, the loss of family members to cancer strengthened her resolve to serve patients and advance cancer awareness.
Each chapter of her life appears to have added another reason to continue.
The legacy goes beyond the operating theatre
Deshmane’s journey ultimately connects three worlds: education, medicine and service.
She overcame financial hardship to become a doctor, challenged expectations about women in surgery, helped advance cancer care and research, trained generations of medical professionals and continued social work after retirement.
Her story also carries a message for young people facing setbacks.
Failure may feel final when it happens, but it does not necessarily decide the destination.
For Deshmane, the moment when she packed her bags and prepared to leave medical college could have marked the end of her dream.
Instead, she went back.
Years later, that same determination had taken her from a vegetable stall to a surgical oncology department, from a struggling medical student to a professor and researcher, and ultimately to the list of India’s Padma Shri awardees.
Her greatest achievement may not simply be that she became a pioneering cancer specialist, but that she turned every obstacle she faced into another reason to keep moving forward — and to make the path easier for those who came after her.