Meet the cancer CRUSADER- Manisha Koirala

THT, (Kolkata), 04 Oct 2013: Manisha Koirala doesn’t like the term ‘cancer survivor’. She finds it meek and feeble. Rather she prefers calling herself a ‘cancer crusader’. Having won the battle against the dreadful disease, the Bollywood actress now wants to promote awareness about cancer. 
“Looking back in life, I have played three roles diligently. I was a ‘Koirala’ daughter (she was born to politician Prakash Koirala), a Bollywood actress and then a cancer crusader. A crusader is a person who has the attitude and strength to fight any difficulty in life. I battled cancer,” says the 1942: A Love Story actress, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer a year ago. 
Manisha was in town on Tuesday on an invitation from her close friend Rituparna Sengupta. The latter had organised a programme on cancer awareness and the Dil Se actress was present at a city hotel to share her story and how she emerged a winner. Resplendent in a red, black and white ensemble with big earrings, Manisha recalled those days when she was suffering from ovarian cancer. 
“During my illness, I had a lot of time to reflect. I understood what is important in life and what’s not. I understood that I have to stand someday to tell my story… to tell how fragile life is. All those years of planning the future might be lost in a moment… the moment when you are detected with cancer. So, we should value every moment in life,” says the actress, who was last seen in Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot Returns in 2012. 
A huge supporter of organic food, Manisha also urges the captive audience to value one’s health and follow a nutritional diet. Citing example from her own life, she informs, “We take life and health for granted… at least I did till I faced my illness. I’m here to remind everyone that health is very important. When I was ill, I promised myself that I would grasp every opportunity to talk about how value life and health is.” 
Manisha, who won the audiences heart with the innocent portrayal of Annie in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi: The Musical, wants to spread awareness about cancer through Be Mad. “We have formed a platform titled Be Mad where we would talk about non-communicable diseases, especially cancer. 
Whenever we say, disease, it means something serious. But we want to convey the message in a fun and crazy way,” says the actress of films such as Company, Gupt and Kachche Dhaage. Manisha also showed several presentations on the causes of cancer.