Shobana Kamineni

When the history of modern India is written, in particular, the 50-year period between 1975 and 2025, the name of Dr. Prathap C Reddy, the creator of the ‘Apollo Hospitals’ brand, would appear in bold. The big daddy of healthcare has four daughters and ten grandchildren, none of whom is till now a medical doctor!

This is the story of his third child. The one who designed the first three Apollo hospitals, who became the first woman president in the 125-year history of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), who ran Apollo’s insurance business, and currently runs its pharmacy vertical. It is the story of the 59-year old Shobana Kamineni. It’s a story of guts and gumption, of acumen and acuity.

Let’s cut to 1989. In the year Sachin Tendulkar burst on the international scene, Shobana Kamineni nee Reddy came from the brink, in what can only be called a medical miracle. The car, carrying Shobana, her husband Anil, and her brother in law Vishweshwar, traveling from Bangalore to Hyderabad, had a near-fatal accident. Well, ‘accident’ is an understatement. Shobana was thrown out of the vehicle, felt like a truck had rammed into her, while the two men miraculously escaped unhurt.

The 29-year old daughter of the rockstar doctor was brought to Apollo Hospital in a critical condition. The staffers were scared at her sight; such was the velocity of the impact. Her knee was shattered, and her neck broken not in one, not in two, but in six places. One side of her face and the right hand were paralyzed. Shobana was frightened. After all, she had not even turned 30, and an entire life stood ahead of her.

Two holes were drilled across her head, and the pain was excruciating.

Six weeks on, with her head held in place with 2 screws and traction and post 3 surgeries, Shobana walked out of the hospital. The folks at Apollo did a remarkable job, and she clearly fought her way to a speedy recovery. But there was still the matter of spine surgery, and it was decided to do it in the US. Seventy-two hours after the surgery in Los Angles, Shobana Kamineni was in a car en route to Las Vegas, Nevada, to celebrate and chill it out with chips. Brave? Or bold? The survival told her she was destined for greater things. She had learned determination and tenacity the hard way.

Shobana Reddy was born in Chennai in 1960, the same year when John F Kennedy became the youngest elected president of the United States. When she was four, in 1964, she joined her parents in Boston, where Dr. Reddy practiced at some of the finest medical institutions in the world. For five years, until her 5th grade, she studied in the land of opportunities, and the US gave her the first ideas of a cosmopolitan society. “We are a closely-knit family. Mom always said, ‘whatever I have, all four of you should share.’ In our growing years, Dad would have dinner with us and stay with us until we slept off. After that, he would go back to the hospital to do his doctoral research.

Then 1969 happened. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and, Dr. Reddy readied to leave behind his now soaring medical practice, pack his bags, and return to serve his motherland. So did the entire entourage of the family. The girls were put into the Rosary Matriculation School. The early years were a huge culture shock to adjust from the US to a conservative convent girls school. More than in academics, Shobana shone in co-curricular activities, and like her two sisters, became Head Girl.