Late 1970s

MAYA RAMAKRISHNAN

This was taken when my mother, Lalita, was nineteen or twenty, in India. She would eventually move to the United States, where she attended graduate school for immunology, met my father, had two children, and made scientific discoveries the girl in this photo probably did not think possible. I love this picture because before anyone had any idea what she would accomplish, she already looked so fearless and full of life, traits that middle age and motherhood have not changed.