CHAPTER 72

Summary

• Chapter 72 begins with Mariamma travelling to Madras to meet Uma Ramasamy, bringing a genealogy of her family she'd previously discussed.
• Mariamma meets Uma in the Pathology Specimen Room and they discuss the family genealogy, noting patterns of a Condition affecting multiple family members.
• Uma reveals that Mariamma's father drowned, likely due to the Condition, and invites Mariamma to accompany her to the Brain Room.
• In the Brain Room, Uma and Dr. Das present Mariamma with her father’s brain. They explain the presence of acoustic neuromas—noncancerous tumors that develop on the nerves leading from the inner ear to the brain—which probably caused his dizziness and deafness.
• Dr. Das suggests that this and the family history indicate a variant of von Recklinghausen's disease—also known as neurofibromatosis. Unlike the typical case, this variant doesn't necessarily produce visible physical changes.
• Mariamma is allowed to spend time alone after her father's brain examination. Here, she decides to pursue a career in neurosurgery specifically targeting the Condition that has plagued her family.
• Mariamma, despite facing discrimination as a woman, finally secures a training spot in a neurosurgery program at the Christian Medical College in Vellore. The requirement is that she must first serve a two-year mission in a hospital before her training and then another two years after.
• The chapter concludes with Mariamma being assigned to a new mission hospital in Parambil—the same village where she was born. She leaves Madras with a resolve to fight the Condition that took her father’s life.