‘I was terrified, but my family made the chemo sessions seem like a holiday’

Sonali Bendre has been making headlines ever since she successfully fought a high-grade

cancer

after undergoing treatment in New York. The actor, who took to social media to announce her medical condition on July 4, 2018, recently returned to work and her fighting spirit has won her many fans who see her as the epitome of positivity, resilience and strength today. On her recent visit to Hyderabad, she spoke about her seven-month-long fight against cancer, the insecurities she had to deal with and what it took to keep going against all odds.

“Initially, I was in denial. I wasn’t ready to accept that I had been diagnosed with cancer. I kept thinking it can’t be true because I always ate healthy, exercised and was a super optimistic person,” said the Sarfarosh actor, who looked stunning in a chic crop hairdo as she settled down for a chat sporting her trademark radiant smile. “Why me? What did I do wrong? Questions like these haunted me so I consulted a therapist and realised that cancer is also a genetic disease which could be passed down in families.Then I realised that my sister too had fought the same and I slowly accepted the fact,” said Sonali, who also took therapy sessions in New York to ease her troubled mind.

Speaking about why she chose to go online about her ordeal. “From the time I announced my condition on social media, I started receiving overwhelming love and affection from my fans across the world. It made me feel that I am not alone and it acted as a coping mechanism. So I continued posting as it gave me a sense of strength. I wasn’t looking for sympathy or pity through those posts,” said 44-year-old, adding that speaking the truth always helps in keeping rumours at bay.

“I didn’t want people to speculate and wanted to be in charge of what was being said about me because my entire family would get affected and I didn’t want any negativity,” the mother of a 13-year old explained. “I actually took my son, Ranveer, to a few of my

chemotherapy

sessions and he was surprised. He said, ‘Mumma, I thought it would be gory with blood and injections all over and you’ll have tubes going through your nostrils’. That’s why I wanted him to experience and see it for himself that it’s not all that scary — it is painful alright, but he needed to see the reality,” smiles Sonali, who used the hashtags #SwitchOnTheSunshine and #OneDayAtATime in all of her posts.

Sonali says she did have moments that made her feel weak and powerless. “It’s not easy to stay strong all the time. I broke down, I had moments where I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. My hair, which I loved and which got me my first movie, was all gone. I had no eye-brows or eye lashes and it was terrifying to say the least. But my husband and family stood by me like a rock. They kept me going and at times, made the chemo sessions seem like a holiday,” said the survivor who kept her mind off by watching a lot of comedy shows.

“Oh yes! I read books or just binge watched mind-numbing comedy shows that made me laugh a lot,” laughs Sonali, who is currently keeping herself busy with her online book club. Prod her if she’s planning an autobiography, she said, “I want to keep myself busy and be around people all the time. Writing a book is a lonely task and I am not that person. I am in no rush to do a movie either but if there’s a script that I like, I’ll definitely do it,” she said.

Sonali, today, feels she is blessed and privileged to have come out of ‘the

battle

’ as a winner. “I am not unique. I never claimed to inspire or be put on a pedestal because an alarming 1.1 million cancer cases are registered every year in India. I believe I am blessed and privileged to have gotten the best treatment,” said the actor, urging women to go for regular checkups and take care of themselves. “Women always put themselves at the last. They are taught to sacrifice and tolerate pain, but that is not right. Start taking care of yourselves. Cancer is tricky and difficult to diagnose as symptoms may not appear initially. So, it’s important to go for regular check-ups,” she said, signing off.

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