Consider the significance of the number 42. It is the angle in degrees at which a rainbow appears. It is the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything,” according to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. And 42 is the number of years from 1972-when Indian-born Sai Padma Murthy, at 45 days old, contracted polio-to March 27, 2014, when the World Health Organization (WHO) certified India as polio-free. Murthy, whose given name translates to “Enlightened Lotus,” was six weeks shy of meeting WHO’s then-guidelines to receive the polio vaccination when she was diagnosed with the virus.
