In the quiet town of Mahidpur near Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, on 3 April 1926, a girl named Bhakti was born into a traditional Maharashtrian family. In an era when educating daughters was still rare, her father believed in her potential. She studied at Ahilya Ashram School in Indore and later topped her first year at Holkar Science College. In 1948 she joined the very first batch of MBBS students at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Indore—and she was the only woman among forty men. When she graduated she became the first female MBBS doctor not only of Indore but of the entire central India region. She later completed her MS in Gynaecology from the same college.

Government jobs and prestigious posts were offered to her, yet she turned them down. Instead she chose to work at the Nandalal Bhandari Maternity Home, caring for the wives of poor mill workers. Later she and her husband opened Vatsalya Nursing Home in the simple neighbourhood of Pardeshipura. For nearly seven decades she never charged the poor. Women from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat travelled long distances to see “Doctor Dadi” or “Doctor Didi.” Over the years she performed more than 1.5 lakh operations and conducted around 70,000 deliveries—almost all free of cost.

Even when age slowed her steps and osteoporosis weakened her bones, she continued to smile at every patient who came. One young mother, after her baby was safely delivered, once whispered, “Dadi, how can I ever repay you?”

Bhakti Yadav gently touched the child’s head and answered, “Just raise this child with kindness. That is payment enough.”

In 2017 the Government of India conferred upon her the Padma Shri. Too frail to travel to Delhi, she received the medal and citation at her own home from the district collector, her eyes still bright with the same quiet joy that had guided her for a lifetime.

Dr. Bhakti Yadav passed away on 14 August 2017 in Indore at the age of 91. Yet the countless mothers and children she brought safely into the world, and the example of pure service she left behind, continue to shine. From a lone girl student in a medical college classroom to the beloved “Doctor Dadi” of Indore who never counted the cost of compassion, her journey remains one of the purest stories of healing in modern India.