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EXCLUSIVE: Tahira Kashyap on birthday plans with Ayushmann Khurrana, her battle with cancer and much more
Tahira Kashyap is celebrating her birthday and it’s a working day for her. So, Pinkvilla caught up with Tahira to ask her about her plans for the day.
To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear - Buddha
Tahira Kashyap believes in the very concept of your physical and mental health being interlinked. She also believes in the learnings of Buddhism and has overcome a big battle in her life with her head held high and a smile on her face. While she was fighting this battle, her Instagram post radiated only inspiration and strength to all of those who are going through tough times. She was detected with Stage 1 breast cancer a few months ago, but what kept her smiling all throughout her pain? I really wanted to know even if after being in pain, how one can be a pillar of strength to all people around you.
Today, she is celebrating her birthday and Ayushmann Khurrana shared some beautiful pictures from her last night’s birthday celebration. So, today was the best day to talk to her and I rang her up to wish the beautiful Tahira a very happy birthday and have a small conversation about her plans of the day, her battle with cancer and what kept her going in her low phase. I was overwhelmed that she responded to my texts and told me to call her up. I wished her and started to ask about her plans for the day. Let me tell you, it’s a working birthday for Tahira and she is enjoying sitting at her desk and working on her upcoming project.
“I had once heard that if you talk to your plants, they grow. Breasts are no different. They grow, become ripe & full & then droop. So, I had long monologue sessions in the bathroom, waiting for my left breast to grow too....” My two bit on breast cancer. https://t.co/xvF3W1UtBH
“I am so happy and blessed that I am working today. I had a couple of my friend coming over last night. I am blessed to have such lovely colleagues as they got cake and a bouquet of flowers for me. Now, I am at my desk and working. This is the best way to celebrate my birthday,” Tahira said. Now, that she is working, I asked about her upcoming production venture. On this, she told me, “Well, it's a slice-of-life film and it's going to go on floors in March first week and it's all heart and a lot of fun. That's the only thing I can tell right now. I am kinda pounding over it and probably will announce it soon.”
Panning the conversation, I asked her the million dollar question, i.e. how did Ayushmann celebrate her birthday? Well, answering my query, she said, “This year has been really busy and he had just come from the shoot last night. My closest friend popping at 12 midnight was also a surprise. He had limited time and it was the maximum he could do and I am happy that he did that. I am expecting from the day so I am hoping he does something special once back home from work."
All the time when were talking, I could feel that positivity in her voice which made me ask her, what kept her going through this painful journey. “Yes, there have been tough days. It might sound easy but you will understand as a human. See, in life, you always have two perceptions - either you deal with it head on it's there and you might get through it with a happy face and genuinely be full of gratitude, which I am because I feel very protected. Everything happened in a way that it suited me. I mean the problem came and I could deal with it. At the end of the day, each one of us has obstacles to overcome and I know at times, it does look difficult and testing. It's only on us on how to come victorious out it. I am very convinced that if at all we have problems, the only thing is that a situation has come up to be the better versions of ourselves. The only way to expand our lives and to reach our maximum potential is when you have a testing period. I chant and I believe in Buddhism. Now, when this thing came up, I knew it was the time to have faith in what I have been reading and should be actual proof of what I have been listening to and nodding my head. I have always agreed. Once you have that determination in your mind and your faith gives you a lot of courage, your pain reduces, I feel. You know you are not going to accept the defeat. I am being very honest with you, I just feel that it all happened in a jiffy. It all happened in a week's time and it didn't look like stress to me, but that also depends on your life state,” Tahira told me stating her mantra. By this time, I was very much moved by how she took this challenge and came victorious out of it.
But, then we see so many people battling with Cancer. Is there any specific reason to it? “You actually have no reason to it - why cancer. It has become so rampant. I don't know a single family that hasn't been touched by cancer. I can't pinpoint to why it is happening. At the same time, I feel it's a manifestation of negativity that you have within ourselves or it's the stress that we take. I think we just need to calm down and sit and take it a way that whatever situation that comes in our way, we will deal with it. Nothing is important more than health and I would want people to focus on it. Don't manifest any negativity and I don't have it because that just triggers it,” Tahira said.
Post all this, I asked her about the dietary changes. She mentioned, “In terms of food, I have been asked to go off sugar and milk. I feel any healthy person should also go off refined sugar. Rest, for my birthday, I have cheated and I haven't refrained or restrained myself from having my birthday cake, that was obnoxious and maddening, I had all the sugar rush. I am enjoying it. You know what 2 or 3 years if I used to eat, I used to obsess over it thinking that what did I eat. I relished the cake I had yesterday and there's nothing going inside my head. I believe small lifestyle changes lead you towards happiness. Your mental health and physical health are interlinked. If you think your mental state is outside of your body, you are highly mistaken. Both of them work in sync.” I couldn’t agree more on that!
Tahira also spoke about how her perspective towards life changed; she said, “I think if things are changing, we should make ourselves strong enough to deal with it and not succumb to it. My learning from this is that you got to respect yourself as a human being. You have been given your body to live in and it's the closest to you for your rest of the life, you got to respect it. That's my learning. I might be 10 kgs lesser, I was never happy. I stopped obsessing and have started loving myself.”
Well, on an ending note, I would want to wish her a happy birthday and a life full of love and happiness!
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