How this jewellery designer took to art and music to cope with cancer
Here’s the real-life story of Rakesh Khanna, a cancer survivor, who took to music and art to overcome the disease
We all tend to go about our lives building illustrious careers, nurturing our family lives, and involving ourselves in numerous social activities. However, for those who are diagnosed with cancer, all this comes to a standstill.
Priorities and daily lives take a turn, and dealing with the illness in itself becomes a huge task at hand, and depression and worry tends to follow naturally. But there are quite a few courageous people out there whose journeys are worth being told and heard. We at Voice of Cancer Patients have interacted with a few such cancer survivors who have gripping tales to tell.
Here is a real-life story of a cancer survivor who made it past the illness by indulging in art and music.
Rakesh Khanna
The initial hiccups
Delhi-based Rakesh Khanna is an award-winning jewellery designer who recently won the prestigious 'De Beers International Award' for his work. Besides having a flourishing professional career back in the day, he was quite actively involved in volunteering for numerous non-profit organisations such as WWF-India, Save The Trees Support, War Widows Association, Savera Foundation, and Pratham UK.
However, Rakesh’s life came to a standstill in 2012 when his family discovered that he was suffering from a rare lung cancer called ‘Anaplastic Lymphocyte Kinase’ (ALK). Since there was a considerable delay in accurately diagnosing his disease in India, his family had to take him to Singapore to consult some of the best pulmonary specialists.
They were told that the disease had reached the fourth stage, and was already spreading to his brain. Hence, Rakesh was asked to immediately undergo radiation therapy and follow it up with a couple of chemotherapy sessions.
During the course of that time, Rakesh faced multiple health problems like fatigue, loss of appetite, disorientation, loose motions, and acidity. He even developed Parkinson’s right after the treatment.
“We had to do a lot of research on our own to find the latest drugs available in the market and pay hefty amounts to buy them,” says Rakesh’s wife Renee Khanna.
Painting and piano to the rescue
Once the treatment started, Rakesh had to put a hold on to his jewellery business. Fortunately, his wife and son took over the business and kept it going. His nonchalant attitude towards cancer coupled with regular physiotherapy sessions helped him make progress.
Today, Rakesh is doing good and comes across as any other 68-year-old man.
“I made myself believe that I am not ill at all; I did not read about my disease nor converse about it with anyone. I simply found a way to divert my mind by reviving my childhood interests and it worked really well for me,” Rakesh notes.
Even while Rakesh was recovering, he made it a point to go to Delhi School of Music every week in order to learn violin. He signed up a home-tutoring course on piano as well. Further, Rakesh took up his childhood passion for oil painting and spent hours making portraits at home.
Since the 68-year-old tends to find a lot of solace in travelling, he is presently trying to step out as often as possible.
“I make travel plans by myself, including flight schedules, hotel stays, and day trips. The only thing that I have to place restrictions on is my food and diet,” Rakesh says.
