Near the end of her internal medicine rotation in 1974 Madras, a peon summons Mariamma to Dr. Uma Ramasamy of Pathology. The charismatic professor—renowned teacher and head of the Hansen Research Center—invites Mariamma to assist a project dissecting peripheral nerves from preserved upper limbs of patients with Hansen’s disease for gross photography and microscopic study, with select sections destined for immunohistochemistry in Oslo.

Mariamma, initially uneasy about working with leprous specimens, accepts. In the lab, she painstakingly performs blunt dissection to trace median and ulnar nerves through thickened, altered tissues. After a week, her meticulous work impresses Uma. Mariamma explains her ability to “see” anatomy in three dimensions and to integrate tactile cues; Uma validates this as a rare cognitive gift and links it to how the brain can remap sensory signals.

Their rapport deepens as Mariamma reflects on her drowned mother and feels, with Uma’s vibrancy, a glimpse of the maternal connection she missed. On weekends, at the two-headed microscope, Uma notes that discovery often requires imagining what one expects to find, invoking Armauer Hansen’s insight. Inspired, Mariamma works harder and books a short trip home.

Letters from Philipose report that Joppan has become Parambil’s manager, easing Philipose’s burdens; the new hospital’s walls are rising; and Uplift Master is suspended after a subordinate’s embezzlement, though construction continues. As Mariamma readies a dissection for photography, Uma approaches, visibly shaken, and tells her there has been an accident.