Emraan Hashmi is a changed man. Ever since his four-year-old was diagnosed with cancer and beat the disease, the actor and father has a changed perception of life. He says, “It was a very testing phase. It is possibly the most traumatic experience a parent can go through. My wife and I have learnt a lot from it.”
The experience has led to more than just emotional shifts in the lives of the Hashmis. “The food for instance. We now follow a strict diet at home and have made a lot of little lifestyle amends as well. It took me six months to educate myself about the disease and understand what led to the tumour growing in my son’s body. I wanted to do everything to ensure that it doesn’t return — that is the biggest fear.”
The experience he says, has also brought him closer to his wife. “Any traumatic experience I think brings you closer to your partner because you have been through so much, so there’s a different bond we share now.”
It has also made him stronger as an individual. “I strongly believe that if nature gives you a problem, then it also has its way of fixing it. If you have the will, you don’t need chemotherapy — your body will repair itself. Seeing your son suffering from cancer is the mother of all traumas. Everything else seems trivial now. As human beings we dwell too much in the past but when I see a four-year-old deal with it, get up and move on, I feel anything is possible. If my film flops on a Friday or a Saturday, I say, ‘screw it’ and move on. We all have reserves of energy that can face any adversity.”
