INDOMITABLE SPIRIT

Six survivors, most of them diagnosed with advanced cancer, show their determination to live life to the fullest as they pursue their passions and, in the process, inspire others like them

- Naveen Kumar Mishra

CANCER WARRIORS

Ravi Prakash, a journalist, vividly recalls the day when doctors confirmed his advanced stage lung cancer. It was January 30, 2021. The news turned the 47-yearold’s life upside down, but he soon gathered himself. “I realised that I would have to live with cancer for the rest of my life, so I chose to befriend it rather than surrender to it,” he says.

Hailing from Ranchi in Jharkhand, Prakash is required to travel to Mumbai for treatment, He clicked vivid photographs of nature during these trips and later organised an exhibition in Ranchi, titled Cancer Wala Camera. Often, he combines these visits with family trips to other places. Prakash believes that longevity has nothing to do with a person’s greatness. “Birsa Munda left this world at the age of 25, Khudiram Bose at 20 and Swami Vivekananda at the age of less than 40, but they all achieved great things in their lives. There are hundreds of such examples to motivate us,” he says. He has now set out to write a book on cancer.