On Women’s Day, Ananya did not buy herself flowers. She gave herself something else. She gave herself the future she once thought she could postpone. She started by saying ‘Yes’ to bald her head.
Years ago, during her undergraduate and postgraduate days, life felt very simple. She woke up early, attended classes, and spent evenings taking tuition for school children. The money from those classes was small, but it felt like freedom. She used it the way she liked.
She started by saying ‘Yes’ to bald her head
Sometimes she bought books without thinking twice. Sometimes she watched a late evening movie with friends. Some days ended with long conversations over tea where everyone spoke about dreams as if the world had already opened for them. Saving money was never part of her thinking. She had an income, yes. But she was still a student. Serious life would begin later.
The future looked very large back then. She often told herself that real planning could wait until after her postgraduate degree. Maybe she would do a Ph.D. Maybe she would move into research or teaching. Those decisions could come later.
For now, she was simply living.
Then, toward the end of her PG program, everything changed. The world outside began to close in on itself. Streets emptied. Shops shut down. News channels spoke about illness and lockdowns every day.
In the middle of that strange silence came another piece of news. The doctors told her she had Stage 5 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. For a few seconds she thought they had made a mistake. She sat in the hospital room listening to the doctor explain treatment and tests. Words moved across the room but did not settle inside her. Cancer was a word she had heard in stories. It had never belonged to her life.
That evening she sat with her parents at home. She had already thought about what to say.
“I think I can manage the expenses,” she said quietly. “I will apply for a loan. I can handle the paperwork. I also have some money saved. I was planning a few trips. I can use that money for treatment.”
Her parents did not answer immediately. They looked at her the way parents do when they are trying to understand how their child suddenly became older than they expected. Then her father spoke.
“We want you to continue your studies.”
Her mother nodded slowly.
“We know you are saving for your Ph.D. You keep working on that. We will find a way to handle the medical bills.”
Ananya tried to explain again. She spoke about responsibility and independence. She had always believed she should manage her own problems. Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder. “You may be grown up,” she said softly. “But you are still our daughter.”
The room fell quiet after that. The months that followed were slow and heavy. Hospitals replaced classrooms. Medical reports replaced lecture notes. Some days were filled with treatment. Some days were filled with waiting.
Time began to feel different.
Before the diagnosis, time had always looked wide and endless. There was always tomorrow for everything. Tomorrow for serious work. Tomorrow for careful planning.
Now tomorrow looked uncertain.
She noticed small things she had never paid attention to before. The sound of footsteps in the hospital corridor. The nurse who smiled every time she entered the room. The light that slowly moved across the window during the afternoon.
Life had not stopped. It had only become quieter. Slowly the treatment began to work. Recovery did not arrive suddenly. It came in small steps. She started walking longer distances. She returned to reading again. Conversations with friends slowly returned.
But something inside her had shifted. The girl who once believed time could wait had learned something else. Time does not wait. Years passed.
Ananya completed her studies. She began helping students who were unsure about their future. Sometimes she spoke about resilience. Sometimes she simply listened to people who needed someone patient in front of them.
Life surprised her again in another way. She became a mother. Holding her child for the first time felt strange and quiet. The small fingers wrapped around her hand without knowing the story behind that moment. She looked at the sleeping face and thought about the years she almost lost.
Life surprised her again in another way. She became a mother.
Now her days were full in a different way. Classes, students, books, and a child who needed her every morning. On this Women’s Day, Ananya sat by the window while her child played on the floor nearby. Sunlight moved slowly across the room. Once, she had spent money freely on books and movie tickets without thinking about the future.
Later, illness had forced her to sit still and look at life more carefully. She realized something simple. Cancer had taken many months away from her. But it had also returned something she never understood before.
Time.
This time, she was using it differently. It was not rushing not postponing. Just living the days she had been given, one careful step at a time.
