Dr V Shanta

Chennai doctor wins Ramon Magsaysay award from NDTV

"In Chennai, there's a sense of quiet pride. The city has thrown up its fifth recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award - Dr V Shanta, an institution herself within the Cancer Institute in Adyar.

A day after winning the Magsaysay award for Public Service, Dr Shanta has been performing surgeries from 8 in the morning with hardly any time for congratulatory telephone calls.

The 78-year-old cancer specialist, this year's only Indian recipient, considers it an honour, not for the individual, but for the 428-bed hi-tech institute of oncological research and treatment, once a 12-bed cottage in Chennai. "