India, May 16 -- Think of her as the Renaissance woman.

Biologist Chandrima Shaha, 72, has headed the National Institute of Immunology (NII) and was the first woman president of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA; appointed in 2020).

She has also been a professional cricketer, a radio commentator, and an award-winning photographer. She has been a relentless champion of gender equality in the male-dominated pure sciences.

The spirit in which she has lived her life is one of "nothing is impossible", says Suprakash C Roy, co-author of a new biography that documents the life of this unusual polymath.

Shaha is proof, Roy adds, of the extent to which passion can shape a legacy, "whether it's in science or cricket or anything else". ...