“Hello, Haan bhaiya Pranam!” A call, which started on an amusing note spiraled me down my personal grief. A 7-year-old child, who called me to narrate his father’s struggle story, spoke of his father’s woes and not being able to play with his siblings and friends in Patna. As luck would have it, the call got disconnected even before I knew the struggle faced by the child and his family. The gravity of the struggle and the ease in the child’s tone ran chills across my spine and I wanted to know more about this child.

I pestered my team at Big FM and made it my agenda to meet Shakti at the earliest which I did. Shakti is undergoing treatment for Leukemia (Blood Cancer) and his first line “Bhaiyaa cap pehen lo na, aapke baalo ka color bilkul achcha nahi lag raha hai!”, had me amused. Parting with a promise of meeting him wearing a cap always, I left the hospital with a lump in my throat.

I have realised, when one is asked for their struggle story, everyone could start a trivia from their life episode. This fun thought of getting people to make peace with their struggles and provide fun alternative solutions had led to #StruggleStories contest on my show, ‘Mumbai Ka Sabse Bada Struggler’. However, this call somewhere made all other struggles sound trivial.

It’s not just the disease which is horrific, it is suffering the trauma a family goes through while fighting the disease. Shakti Shekhar, who while struggling through one of the toughest battles of life: Cancer, was actually more concerned about the struggles that his father was dealing with to make ends meet at home. I have been going through a similar turmoil in my family and I could instantly empathize wholeheartedly on the issues faced by the child and his family.

Shakti’s father told me about the help received from a non-profit named Indian Cancer Society, which has constantly worked towards helping people fight their battle against cancer. I thought it’s my duty to reach out and thank them for the struggles they go through to manage situations like these. Through the organization, I was baffled to find out about the alarming rate at which cancer is affecting the
people of this country.

I have decided to help at least a few people in need and pledge to start a donation drive to collect INR 10,00,000. This money will be handed over to the Indian Cancer Society to help all those suffering from the disease by funding their treatment and health care.

I am a new entrant to the city of dreams and have heard about Mumbaikar’s spirit to support each other in times of need. Bearing this thought in mind, I request all Mumbaikars to join the pledge and come together in this time of need. I shall try my best to spread awareness through my show and social media and help in bringing the city together and work towards a unanimous cause in raising funds for the non-profit organization.

 

To know more about this campaign, kindly click the link below:

https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/jointhestrugglewithBIGFMagainstcancer