Return To Self

For tough-as-nails fashion consultant Sabina Chopra, a cancer diagnosis would become the permission she needed to hit pause and take stock of her life.

- Mamta Mody

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I never gave myself time to process the gravity of the situation. After three months of suspicion and various tests, the tumours in my chest were identified as neuroendocrine carcinomas. This is a type that started on the walls of my lung and spread to the lymph nodes. I treated it like the common cold. I worked out daily. I travelled a fair bit for work, and even went to Sicily on holiday. When a close friend decided to open stores in Mumbai and Delhi, I jumped right in to help him. Through this time, I also continued my mentorship of the Gen Next designers at Lakmé Fashion Week. If I didn’t tell people I was sick, they wouldn’t have been able to guess. I stayed as close to normal as I could.