NEW DELHI: Eight months after she succumbed to cancer, the chronicle of a woman’s “cheerful fight” against the disease, authored by her, was launched in the national capital.
Tales from the Tail End: My Cancer Diary, by Ananya Mukherjee, was launched at the India International Centre on Thursday evening.
Mukherjee died of breast cancer on November 18, 2018. She was 39.
The book is characterised by humour, as the author looks at the lighter side of her battle with cancer, which involved more than 50 cycles of chemotherapy.
“Self-pity is bottomless. So now I’ve crawled out, and walk nosily around the house with a shawl draped around my shoulders like Rajesh Khanna in Anand, scolding the husband and teaching him for the two-hundredth time how to fold a towel correctly, with the right side up. I am past my dukh,” she wrote in a chapter titled ‘Dukh, Dard and a season of Hope’.
Mukherjee, who had a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Wollongong in Australia, had a 17-year-long career during which she worked with reputed public relations agencies.
The book is published in English by Speaking Tiger, and in Hindi by Rajkamal.
Her publishers described Tales from the Tail End as a book “of hope, courage, even sunshine”, which tells one how important it is to reflect on one’s life and make the most of it while it lasts. In the book, Mukherjee offers some advice on gifts to bring to a cancer patient—“a fuzzy little feeling”, “your children’s art”, “sell me some dreams”, “tell me a good story”, “Macherjhol”.
“What I found wonderful and inspiring part of whole book was her ability to find happiness in just watching the sunset, the monsoon rain...,” said writer-columnist Sadia Dehlvi, who is also suffering from the disease.
The blurbs are written by cancer survivors, sport star Yuvraj Singh and actor Manisha Koirala. Proceeds from the book will be donated to the NGOs Muskan and YouWeCan.