Thank you very much for electing me as the 1993 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for public service.

I feel particularly privileged not only because it is such a prestigious award but mainly because it has been established in honor of your great president, the late Mr. Ramon Magsaysay, who rendered such distinguished service to the people of the Philippines when they needed it most. I bow my head in homage to him on this, his birthday anniversary. "He worked to build a nation—a world—in which all people were free and lived in honor and peace one with another. The world is richer and better because Ramon Magsaysay lived. His spirit will continue to be an inspiration."

I must confess that I have not done any great public service nor any biomedical research, outstanding or otherwise. I have only done what I thought was necessary for the underserved and underprivileged people living in the slums of Pune City and in the three hundred villages of Pune District in rural Maharashtra.

I humbly accept this award in the name of KEM Hospital-Pune, the KEM Hospital Research Centre, its very supportive Council of Management, and my colleagues—the heads of departments; the consultants; the residents; the nursing, administrative, technical, and other staff, whose unstinted loyalty, support and hard work has made this day possible.

I have been fortunate in having helping hands throughout my life. I am grateful to them all. First of all, my late parents Bapaimai and Pestonji Kapadia, who endowed me with their genes and provided the environment for me to flourish, and my late husband Jehangir for his lifetime support. I was educated in the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Pune. I am grateful to the nuns and priests who inculcated in me real values that have stood me in good stead all my life. I am grateful to the professors of Grant Medical College and my mentors who guided and encouraged me throughout my life.

I thank the trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation and all others who have extended their courtesy, kindness, and warm hospitality from the moment I landed in Manila.