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You don’t have to be a god

to defeat this raavan…
In an attempt to light up this Diwali for children suffering from
cancer, and their families, ‘CanKids…KidsCan’ infused in them a
healthy dose of optimism and cheer… Anu Gulmohar reports.
l i f e
“I
would like to share
with you a painful
and unforgettable
moment of my life.
February 14, 2009, is an un-
forgettable day in my life. I
was studying in 8th standard.
After the classes, as usual, I
was playing. Suddenly, I could
not breathe. I was literally
panting and gasping. When
my parents took me to Dr
Naik, our family doctor, he
advised me to go for an X-ray.
I was admitted at KMC Hos-
pital at Manipal. My lungs
were filled with fluid. When
the doctors examined me they
told me a bitter truth, I had
cancer, medically called rhab-
domyosarcoma. I literally col-
lapsed with the shock. My
parents and near ones
thought that it was the end of
my life.” The audience – little
boys and girls in caps and
scarves, their mothers and fa-
thers, volunteers of the NGO
CanKids...KidsCan and stu-
dents of Delhi Public School
(DPS), Gurgaon – empatheti-
cally listened to Varalakshmi
Shetty. “I experienced a lot of
pain during my chemothera-
py,” Varalakshmi continued.
“When I began losing my
beautiful hair, I could not ac-
cept the fact. Yet I continued
the treatment. Now, I’m happy
to say that my hair has begun
to grow. Being a cancer pa-
tient I would like to say that
whoever is identified as a can-
cer patient, please do not lose
hope. I request you to not lose
confidence. If one has confi-
dence, one can win over any
hardship, any sickness or any
cancer. To this, I am a witness
standing before you. I have re-
sumed my studies; I’m happy
to say I stand first in class.”
The audience clapped on
hearing of her achievement.
Varalakshmi was among
the ten children who were
awarded under CanKids…
KidsCan 3rd National Child-
hood Cancer Scholarship
Program, and honoured for
their bravery and courage.
Despite missing school for
most of the year, a 9th stand-
ard student, Varalakshmi still
scored 93 per cent. Another
child, an eight-year-old girl
(name withheld on request of
parents) danced to the beat of
Aap ka kya Hoga… (Dhanno)
with unmatchable zest and
exuberance, and if I had not
known that this was a Diwali
Utsav for cancer children, I
could never have guessed that
this child had been battling
the sunday indian 50 14 november 2010
cancer for the last two years.
She is almost cured now, her
mother informed me. For the
800 odd people who assem-
bled on 30th October at DPS,
children like these were shin-
ing examples of how there is
life after cancer. There were
more reasons for children
from Institute Rotary Cancer
Hospital, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
and other cancer centres in
Delhi to beam from ear to ear,
what with many of them per-
forming the Ramlila on stage,
and then waiting to receive
presents that they had wished
for. “Normally, during the
course of the year they do get
a lot of stuff, but it’s often we
who decide what to give to
the children. This time we
asked the children to make
Wish Cards and then pray to
Lord Ganesh,” said Poonam
Bagai, President of CanKids…
KidsCan. “We’ve got this little
story too. Our mascots are
Taklu and Takli, where Taklu
is the little cancer boy and
Takli is the little cancer girl;
we’re trying to destigmatise
hair loss. So Taklu and Takli
go to Ganesh and ask for a pet
and the Lord gives them Kek-
du the crab. The children ask
why Kekdu, and Ganesh says
Kekdu is a symbol of your
cancer, but as you get over
your fear of the disease, so
you will learn to have a victo-
ry over your disease. And
that’s really the genesis of this
Wish Card,” smiled Poonam.
“Childhood
cancer is curable
if treated properly
and diagnosed on
time. More than 70
per cent of cases
can be treated
successfully and
cured”
Why such an initiative is
especially commendable, is
because hundreds of children
suffering from cancer and
their families witnessed
before their eyes that cancer
is beatable. When cancer is
diagnosed, people usually
believe that it is the end of the
road for them, but that is not
the case, especially when the
patient is a child. “Childhood
cancer is curable if treated
properly and diagnosed on
time. More than 70 per cent
the sunday indian 51 14 november 2010
d i wa l i w i t h c a n c e r k i d s
of cases can be treated suc-
cessfully and cured,” shared
Dr Gauri Kapoor, Head,
Department of Paediatric
Haematology/ Oncology &
BMT at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer
Institute & Research Centre,
Delhi. “Children have a lot of
energy and they handle treat-
ment much better than adults.
God made their body in such
a way that children have the
best physical condition and
they can tolerate the treat-
ment very easily. Also, their
bodies don’t already have
heart disease, hypertension
and other problems that
come with age. All their or-
gans are healthy. Cancer in
children is highly curable,”
asserts Dr Kapoor.
When a Varalakshmi or a
Nisha Kukreja (17-year-old
who was diagnosed with can-
cer when she was all of five;
successfully battled cancer
and has been pursuing her ac-
ademics, and recently com-
pleted a course in Punjabi
language and is also skilled in
Hindi calligraphy) came up
on stage, the parents present
were shown a life after cancer
for their children too. Man-
preet Brar was present at the
Diwali Utsav and reiterated
the parents’ role in the child’s
healing. “Parents, you are the
reason why your children will
survive cancer,” she said ad-
dressing the audience.
“Through parents children get
the strength. When the chil-
dren see hope in their parent’s
eyes, they too will believe that
they can fight cancer and that
they’re going to survive.” Op-
timism is what the doctor also
prescribes for parents. “It is
very essential to target the
parents for counselling and
keep them motivated. Their
attitude is extremely impor-
tant because the children
don’t know anything other
than their parents. If the par-
ent is sad and crying, the
child will also be sad and will
cry. If the parent is happy,
cheerful, looking forward
positively, the child forgets
that he has a disease. Positive
attitude plays a very strong
role in successfully overcom-
ing cancer. A positive attitude
has been scientifically proven
to help overcome physical and
medical conditions,” said Dr
Kapoor. There are countless
cases of cancer patients sur-
viving and leading fulfilling
lives even after the doctors
gave up, just by staying posi-
tive and believing that they
will live, and they will fight
this disease. I wasn’t surprised
when the mother of the
8-year-old girl, who had earli-
er danced to Dhanno, told me
the secret of her daughter’s
confidence, “Her father keeps
her confidence high, he’s been
very positive throughout, and
that has helped them a lot.”
A huge drawback for the
patients is that “only one in 10
children have access to proper
cancer treatment in India,” in-
formed Dr Kapoor. “There is
a lack of capability in diagnos-
ing and treating children with
cancer. In the remote areas
there is not enough aware-
ness, even among the general
practitioners in small towns
and villages, there isn’t aware-
ness that cancer is curable.
They feel that as it is cancer,
there is no point in treating
the child further. There is a
great deal of need to increase
awareness even among doc-
tors, as Oncology is a field
which has come up only in
the last few years in India,”
said Dr Kapoor.
“The event today aims to
deliver a message to all the
children that you do get bet-
ter, you can survive, and you
will still do well and you can
still achieve,” said Poonam
Bagai. As the award-ceremo-
ny came to a close, the chil-
dren danced to the song, All is
well. Hopefully, both parents
and children left the Diwali
Utsav completely convinced
of the lyrics.