When a week ago I read about Lisa Ray suffering from some rocket-science kind of cancer (Multiple Myeloma), the first thing that came into my head was, 'Really? Is she? Or are they talking about some role she is playing? Is this some silly publicity stunt?' Oh! Evil me!

Well, on further reading about the chemotherapy on her blog, a realization hit me hard – celebrities are indeed human beings. Like the common man, when diagnosed with cancer, they have to go through all the pain and depression. However, Lisa is evolving as a ray of hope and strength to all those people, celeb or non-celeb, who deal with the disease. Read more about Lisa, in her own words: http://lisaraniray.wordpress.com/

I feel sad when I get to hear about people dying of cancer, on a daily basis. Is this nature's new way of keeping a tab on the population? I wonder!

I woke up on September 15 and the first thing I heard was about Patrick Swayze's death. The 1991 winner of the 'Sexiest Man Alive' title had to give in to the enemy, Pancreatic Cancer, after two long years of suffering. There are a whole lot of very talented celebrities who had to lose the cancer battle like the beautiful Nargis and the dramatic Nutan. Also, who wouldn't know about the controversial Jade Goody (of Big brother fame) or the showman Feroz Khan. The list seems never ending...

For some reason, I find it very unreal to accept that a celebrity has cancer. Why? How many of us knew that Kylie Minogue (yes the one dazzling in the new Hindi movie 'Blue') was suffering from breast cancer? It's a mean world. We get so carried away by their external appearances. If any of the celebrities were to stand in front of me and tell me about their suffering, all I would do is stare at them and wonder about their beauty or appeal or both.

As I get to read more about Lisa Ray and many other famous people fighting the disease like Nelson Mandela, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Taylor and Lance Armstrong, I am able to see and understand them in a more personal way.

For the sake of all of the humans suffering from this harmful disease, all I can do is wish that real life had a bit of the poetic justice that we mostly see in reel life. I still remember the scene from a movie I watched where the male lead miraculously recovers from the deadly cancer and gets back to running around trees. How unrealistic yet how appealing a thought! Sigh! Sad that reality is different...

Kudos to the very beautiful Lisa Ray for accepting something that cannot be changed, with so much courage and no drama. She has bestowed in me a newborn respect for herself and every other person who has to go through this painful disease. Way to go Lisa! And yes, like you say, NEVER STOP FIGHTING!