Fighting cancer takes strength and it’s such a journey that can change a person’s perspective towards life. The story of author-director Tahira Kashyap is along the same lines, after getting diagnosed with stage 0 of cancer last year. “This strength comes from my practice. Having said that it has been a roller coaster ride. I didn’t expect it to happen but knew I am going to beat it and decided not to get bogged down by it,” says the cancer survivor.
The journey also opened her eyes to some of the stereotypes women face in India, as she recalls, “When I underwent the reconstruction of breasts, that’s when I came to know how overrated breasts are in India. You don’t become a lesser woman and you are everything that you were before.”
Since the time she posted about her diagnosis, Tahira has been very vocal about the disease and is an inspiration to many but she has her own inspiration to look up to and that is Sonali Bendre.
She says, “I met Sonali recently and she is an amazing person, I don’t know where does she get her positivity from. She has been an inspiration. Her journey is different. But it is the human spirit of surviving that we have in common. I am in awe of her.”
When fighting a disease like cancer, it involves the entire family and being a mother of two kids, Tahira reveals how they handled the situation. She says, “They are coping up well. I didn’t tell them much. They are too young, but my son, who is the older one, has become little conscious about my hair. He would say ‘don’t come to play area, wear a cap’ but I would go to the play area and meet his friends. When they saw how comfortable I am, all of them got comfortable. Because I was comfortable it became easy for my son.”
When asked if she’s planning to pen down her journey, Tahira doesn’t dismiss the idea completely but has her own guidelines for it. She says, “Many people have been asking me to write a book but I like to take life as a happy life. So if at all I ever write on cancer, I am going to write it from a very happy space. Nothing concrete right now, so let’s see where it goes. I love to write, so I would love to if some idea strikes me.”
