17) Beating Cancer

Mukund was telling his wife, “My mother is the most courageous woman and she can triumph against any obstacle”.

Sheela said,” There you go, again. I have heard that story of what all she had to go through after widowhood in raising the family for the umpteen time”.

He was not in an argumentative mood as the Michigan winter chilled the bones. The family had their dinner with the children retired to their rooms while the husband and wife sought the comfort of the furnace in the drawing room. Sheela was engrossed in a romantic thriller even as Mukund watched the television with disinterest.

He said breaking the monotonous silence in the room,” Honey, remember the time when we visited Chennai, you took mother to the Cancer Institute and how even the doctors were surprised at her progress?”

Sheetal said,” That’s because chemotherapy worked and your mother followed the instructions to the letter”.

The son informed,” She was suffering from a rare kind of liver cancer. Medically, less than 5% of the people survive that disorder. The mother got her figures straight from her oncologist. She studied how the disease progressed and how the medicines took effect. Armed with this, she worked on her mind to generate positive thoughts. If others could do it, so could she”.

“Initially the stresses of medication were too great. She felt weak most of the time and hair started to fall in addition to being alone with just the servant maid for company. Yet she managed the house by herself while undergoing treatment at the hospital. She read a lot of motivation books and that’s when she discovered Deepak Chopra”.

“From his book, “Ageless body and timeless mind” she learnt that different people healed at different rates given the same medicine. She wanted to be the best healer of her body and learnt transcendental meditation as the drugs started to take their toll and weak almost beyond endurance”.

‘It has been 4 years since diagnosis and even the doctors treat her as a special person”, the son proudly recounted.

Sheetal responded,” I can see why you take so much pride in your mother. She’s always a bit different and so dignified”.

Mukund could only say,” If you get your thinking straight then you can even beat any illness. Truly if the mind is imbued with love and peace; it can just about overcome any obstacle”.

Sheetal linked her palms in his and spoke barely audible,” You mother is indeed great and we are so proud of her. Maybe, next year we should invite her to the States”.