History is witness to the pressures faced by a son or daughter who has followed the footsteps of a parent who was highly accomplished in his or her field. Dr.  (Mrs.) Mehta though, begs to differ.

 Daughter of the well-known surgeon Late Dr. Nowroji J Bandorawala, the third MS of Bombay University, Dr. (Mrs.) Mehru Jal Mehta was born on the 10th of June 1924. Her mother Late Dr. Saroshbanoo was one of the very early Indian lady doctors.  After completing her school education from Sardar Dastur Noshirwan Girl's high School, Dr. Mehta joined the Wadia College, Pune and later the Grant Medical College and the J.J. Hospitals from where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Medicine  (M.B.B.S.) Dr. Mehta was not just the studious type.  She participated in many extra curricular activities.  While studying in the Wadia College, she was the winner of the All India Inter collegiate Trophy in Elocution. During her academic pursuits in medicine, she received several scholarships and became the first MS of Pune University. In 1952, she went to Kansas, U.S.A. on a rotary scholarship to study cardiology

        In 1952, she married Dr. Jal Minocher Mehta, and had one son by the name of Dr. Minoo. They truly are one outstanding family of doctors.  Dr. Mehta returned to India and joined the Sassoon Hospital, Pune as Assistant Honorary Surgeon and very shortly later became Prof. of General Surgery and worked as the head of the Department of Surgery for 25 years! That's some experience!

On retirement she was given an extension for two years after which she joined the K.E.M. Hospital, Pune as an Honorary Surgeon and Cancer Specialist. Over the years she has developed her own special technique for the surgical removal of cancerous growths of the oral cavity and the esophagus. All her students and colleagues have a lot of respect and admiration for Dr. Mehta and affectionately call her 'Madam'.  She has, in her long and illustrious career, attended many All India conferences of the Association of surgeons presenting academic papers on different medical subjects. Her series on Oral Cancer and Esophageal Cancer are one of the largest in the country and have been acclaimed for their academic excellence.

 She has been invited on numerous occasions by other institutions to demonstrate certain types of surgery that she has specially mastered and adapted to suit the patients in India. She has devoted her life to the service to the poor and has worked all along in a certain tradition of charity set by her father.  Dr Mehta was instrumental in establishing Cancer Surgery in Pune. This allowed a very large number of patients from Pune and from the growing rural-urban conglomerations around Pune and distant parts of Maharashtra and other states come to her for treatment, who earlier would have to go to Bombay to avail of similar facilities at the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.

 All her life she has spent, in treating people of all sections of society and her zeal remains undiminished through all these years. She carries with her a  wealth of knowledge, which she most willingly has  imparted to her students down the years. Truly one of Pune's most outstanding citizens.

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