HOW SHOULD I HANDLE THE SITUATION?

The times of histrionics are no more allowed or appreciated. Beating chest and wallowing in pity is passe. The leaps and bounds that medical science has made in de-deifying the deathly diseases, has taken the quotient of dramatics to a minimum level. The worry is more about the economics of being in a hospital, post-surgery care which probably is more traumatic and worry about who will look after the rest of the family.

Sunitha Krishnan of Prajwala fame and a dear friend announced in a very matter of fact tone that she might be having cancer and that too lung cancer. I will not lie, but Rajesh Khanna came to mind promptly and all the songs of Anand marched by in my memory, even as I am listening to her tell me about why she had to go to meet a doctor in the first place. Much credit for the prompt advice goes to Balamba madam, who told her to meet a pulmonologist immediately.

Well, one thing led to the other and an unnecessary bronchoscopy was done to find out if that little growth in the lung was cancerous. Without the growth being touched upon at all, it was declared, much to the relief of a lot of us that it probably could be TB and the growth just happened to be there. That Sunitha had to deal with the bleeding post the bronchoscopy and suffer for two days is another story.

Her love for mangoes is beyond any love for anything or person. She will not share it it even with loved ones. She casually mentioned during one of the calls that she was keen on having mangoes. She has suspected cancer (then suspected, now confirmed) and she says she wants to eat mangoes. The onus of buying the best for her lay with me. I who was born and bred on Alphonso mangoes went to visit one of those fruit shops tucked away in many by lanes of Banjara Hills.

Sorry for the digression, but I have to tell you all about the treatment you get in these shops. If you dare to enter the shop then you bloody well pay the price they are asking for. You cannot dare to lift a fruit, smell it and then ask for the rate. Unheard of, at least in these shops. They simply do not entertain such buyers. And to prove that you are a minor citizen, a car will arrive and either the lady of the house or a driver will come and pick up kilos of some exotic fruit or in my case carry four cases of mangoes. No price asked, no haggling and no opening of box to smell the said fruit. That is infinite trust on the part of the buyer and intrinsic top quality product at the shop. I would rather buy it from my friendly bandi walla or wait for a box to arrive from friends who have farms.

And I am sure my Hyderabadi friends will appreciate it, but I ended up picking up Himayats. And it was worth the cost for Sunitha enjoyed every single morsel. Much thanks to the fellow who sold it to me, for she says that it was sweeter than honey.

Even as the drama of bleeding is happening, Sunitha is asked to meet famous oncologist, who checks her scans and tells her that the bronchoscopy was a waste for it did not even touch the growth on her lung. And that a biopsy will have to be done, since this was definitely cancer. They did a minor procedure to remove some tissue.

The good news is that the cancer is in the first stage, which seems a miracle in itself. And they are to do a major surgery or do a lobectomy and remove one of the lobes from the left side. Now the right lung has three lobes and the left only two. And the surgery gets tricky because the heart also sits in the left lobe. The surgery is to be performed again by one of the best in robotics. While he assured that he had done hundreds of these surgeries, he took the trouble of explaining to Rajesh Touchriver, Sunitha's husband and film director, of the various problems that can be encountered.

While honesty from a doctor is an accepted norm, explaining in detail maybe is unnecessary. But Rajesh is being a champ and distracting himself with movies since Sunitha will not share the mangoes with him. And if you think that I am the privileged few who she is talking with, then think again, Apart from the fact that she told all her `good friends', she also posted it on FB, where she has a huge following. There are friends ready to help her out, whatever way they can help. That I meet her and talk to her more often is also not true, for she is calling everyone. And some are better informed than even I am. But she did say that Rajesh was more comfortable with me. Some validation.

I had gone to Prajwala the other day to sign some papers and the girls dropped in to say hello to her. And this is the second miracle which I saw. The first one being catching the big C in the first stage. The second was to see the girls who have gone out to carve out their lives, returning to be with her, to tell her that they are there, and will be praying for her. What an assurance. There can be nothing more reaffirming than to see traumatised children grow into poised women, who are sensitive enough to come back to you to tell you that they are thinking of you in your moment of trouble. And that is thanks to Dr Sunitha Krishnan, and the organisation that she runs. It is an empowering feeling when I realise that I am on the board of Prajwala.

Of course Sunitha was at her best, in her new attire of variously hued dhoti-salwar and kurta, giving them blessings and handling their tears with a panache, which you have to be born with. It is then that I realised how vulnerable she is on the other hand. For if she has got so many blessings in the form of grateful girls, families, she has also made bad enemies of girls and their families. There is the good eye and there is the evil eye. And she has to deal with that constantly. That she has a team which has taken this news with an unbelievable bluster is something else.

I have spoken to a few friends who have undergone such trauma and who are now into therapeutic healing. For there is also a whole other world where there are people full positive and healing thoughts.

She kept hinting at mangoes, saying there is no restriction on the diet. And that her birthday is coming and she is ready for a `good' gift.