Neela Rasgotra

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Dr. Neela Rasgotra is a fictional medical doctor portrayed by Parminder Nagra on the television show ER.

Beginnings

Neela has a PhD in molecular biology. She first appeared in fall 2003 at the start of the 10th season as a talented but very reticent medical student from London, England. She arrived on her first day as the ER was undergoing major renovations and was for the most part unnoticed except by Dr. Gallant who guided her through the rough start in the hospital and Dr. Pratt who flirted a little bit with her. Neela was very intelligent but sometimes lacked the proper people skills between a doctor and the patient. A very reserved individual, she first faced her first big crisis at County when a helicopter crash occurred on Thanksgiving Day that tested her ability as a physician during a disaster. It was also revealed that Neela had a terrible case of nerve wrecking claustrophobia, which she later conquered. In season 11 Neela and Abby graduate together from medical school. However, upon graduating, she had an identity crisis and turns down an internship at the University of Michigan, opting to work as a store clerk when no other position turns up. After a few episodes, she asks the ER chief Dr. Kerry Weaver for a job back at County. Later, she finds herself back in the hospital after an obsessive-compulsive intern (Howard, portrayed by Andy Powers) quit and Susan Lewis made a job offer which she accepted.

Personal life

She becomes close to Dr. Michael Gallant prior to his deployment to Iraq, especially after he took the blame of a patient's accidental death, sparing Neela's probable dismissal. During one return visit, they begin a romantic relationship, after which they maintain a regular correspondence. On completion of his tour of duty, they impulsively marry, but he soon feels compelled to return to Iraq and re-enlists. At this point, Neela was also struggling with her feelings for roommate Ray Barnett, who began to fall in love with her. Neela kept her distance from Ray when she decided to stay with Abby Lockhart instead.

In "The Gallant Hero & The Tragic Victor", Neela becomes a widow when Gallant is killed by a roadside bomb near Mosul, Iraq. She pushes Ray and everyone else away when they tried to offer her some comfort. In "Twenty-One Guns" (the 12th season finale), Michael's funeral takes place, where she is accompanied by Gregory Pratt. She gets angry at Michael's father, accusing him of telling Michael to go off to war when he could have stopped him, but Pratt offers her some comfort when he says that Gallant felt he had to be in Iraq, and that Pratt now understands this due to his own experiences in Darfur. Pratt later receives a phone call from the ER; both are unaware of the shootings which have taken place there.

In "Bloodline", Neela and Pratt rush to the hospital when they find out about the shooting and help the distraught ER. Neela, then taking a surgical elective, scrubs in and operates on Jerry, who eventually recovers from his injuries. Neela reunites with paramedic Tony Gates (from "Two Ships", season 12). Still mourning her husband, she gets drunk and kisses him but she apologizes to him later on. Many feelings and tension arise between her, Gates and Barnett who have been thrust into a love triangle. Chief of Surgery Dr. Dubenko has always been fond of Neela and her talents, looking out for her and helping her get the spot in a surgical elective. She later decides to leave the ER and start over as a surgical intern. As she begins her new surgical rotation, she falls under the strict supervision of new surgical Chief Resident Dr. Dustin Crenshaw, who seems to hold her back from demonstrating her skills. Later in her elective, Neela feels pushed away and neglected from her mentor when a new med student steals all the spotlight in front of Dr. Dubenko. She later discovers that Dr. Dubenko holds feelings for her as does the (female) new med student.

During the wedding of Abby and Luka, Neela decides to end her romantic relationships with Tony Gates for good, after built-up emotions escalate and lead to a bar fight between Tony and Ray and complete exposure of their personal issues in front of the entire ER staff. The fight got Ray tossed out of the reception party, however Neela appeared to be in the process of settling with Ray. She called him on his cell after looking affectionately at the CD of love songs he burned for her. Initially Ray, while leaving drunk from a bar, did not answer his cell despite its vibrating. She was still upset at Ray, as well as Tony, but grew concerned when Ray wouldn't answer his calls and did not show up at work. Neela went by his apartment with no luck and later discovered he was hit by a truck and was hospitalized. With both legs amputated, a bitter Ray could not forgive Neela for hurting him and left Chicago to be cared for by his mother back home, and Ray's love interest Katie called Neela a bitch and said it was her fault that Ray was so badly injured. This further upsets Neela who has been torn apart by the two men. In the 13th season finale, Neela attends an anti-war rally and soon finds herself in danger as a mass panic ensues in the crowd. Tony who was looking for her tries to come to her aid as the crowd tramples her. In the early part of season 14, she recovers from her accident and returns to work. She is staying with Abby while Luka is in Croatia and has taken care of baby Joe while Abby is working. When Katie once again is snide to her, Neela tells Katie that she didn't make Ray "get piss drunk and walk in front of a truck" and that while she is sorry for what happened to him, she will not accept any more blame for something that was not her fault.

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Last updated on Saturday February 09, 2008 at 08:27:21 PST (GMT -0800)
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