[3] This nomination marked the beginning of her lifelong effort to "correct the balance for women by removing social abuses and working for equality in moral standards″.

[8] In spite of various constraints faced by girls in India of her time, she completed her higher education and was admitted into the medical profession.

[9] With several gold medals and prizes to her credit, Reddy graduated in 1912 to become one of the first female doctors in India.

Her enthusiasm for learning was so great that Muthulakshmi's teachers decided to instruct her in subjects beyond those approved by her father.

[11] When Reddy passed the Matriculation exam she applied for admission to Maharaja's College but her application was not welcomed by the Principal or the parents of other students.

Due to protests, the condition for her admission was that for three months she would be observed to check if her character remains "blemishless."

She entered Madras Medical College in 1907 as the first woman to be admitted there, she received a scholarship of 150 rupees from the maharaja, completed her studies in 1912 with seven gold medals, and became House Surgeon in the Government Hospital for Women and Children in Madras(current day Chennai).

Even in that time she managed to volunteer in girls homes, study Indian history, listen to lectures of Theosophical Society, meet personalities like Annie Besant and Sarojini Naidu and began to write in a magazine called India and give Tamil translation to English essays.

Mahatma Gandhi had invited her to participate in the freedom struggle, but she refused because she wanted to devote her whole time to the welfare of women and children.

But she supported the participation of women in Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930, and she resigned as legislator protesting against the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi.

[14] She went to England for higher studies and she gave up her rewarding practice in medicine in response to a request from the Women's Indian Association (WIA) to enter the Madras Legislative Council.

She recommended systematic medical inspection of students in all schools and colleges, run by municipalities as well as other local bodies.

This has now developed into an all-India institution combining therapy and research on cancer and attracting patients from all over India.

Her two outstanding monumental gifts for India remain the Avvai Home (for children) and the Cancer Institute.

[citation needed] Mahatma Gandhi had invited her to participate in the freedom struggle, but she refused because she wanted to devote her whole time to the welfare of women and children, out of jail, within the government system.

She supported the participation of women in Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930, and she resigned as legislator protesting against the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi.

[12] The foundation stone for Adyar Cancer Institute was laid by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952.

Her book My Experience as a Legislator recounts her initiatives in respect of social reforms taken by her in the Madras Legislature.