Mumbai, Pune women rally against breast cancer

While cancer awareness was the main theme of the event, the ladies were out to also support women’s education, save the Earth, save water, promote equality for women, call for inclusion of the disabled and, hey, even promote the ‘Merchant Navy’!

 

“Participants had the option of promoting any cause they wanted though the event was primarily to promote breast cancer awareness,” said Biswajit Dey, who was promoting the event on social media.

 

The point of the rally was not to get to the finish line first but to get there by precisely executing instructions. Participants had to maintain a certain speed limit and report at various check points along the way.

 

The women drove into Dasave township to enjoy music, food, and other fun activities by the river. “After driving such a long way, the concert and manicures and pedicures were pretty awesome," said Anuja Kolwankar, 26, retail professional. "Though the drive was all about promoting a cause, for me it was more about enjoying myself.”

 

While Kolwankar had a good time enjoying massages and pedicures, Meetu Kabra, 36, blogger, didn’t. “It was a little weird that you could only have one of the two snacks at the counters. The concert wasn’t impressive. I just had fun bonding with friends,” she said.

 

If for the participants it was mostly about having fun, how did the rally contribute to the cause? “The rally gets people talking, though there is no tangible action towards the causes promoted,” said Kabra.

 

Devika Bhojwani, vice-president of the Women's Cancer Initiative at Mumbai's TataMemorial Hospital, disagreed. “The rally has seen huge response since last year," she said, "and that itself is a victory of sorts. When the participants are briefed about the rally, I personally talk to them about self-examination and the importance of early detection of cancer.”

 

Bhojwani is herself a cancer survivor and her initiative gives the participants free screenings at Tata Memorial Hospital. “Last year, out of the 500 participants, 60 came in for the tests," she said. "This year within a week we have had 20 registrations. That’s a huge triumph, but we are 20 years behind the West in cancer awareness.”

 

Bhojwani observed that her NGO is seeing younger women being afflicted by breast cancer. “The youngest breast cancer patient I know is a 31-year-old from Delhi," she said. "In her case, the lump was ignored because she was thought to be too young to have cancer! On further examination she was found to have stage two breast cancer.”

 

The patient has since finished her last round of chemotherapy and was felicitated by the organisers for her strength.

 

Overtaking cancer and having a good time while doing so seemed to be the philosophy of the event. Go full throttle, we say!