Swapna Narayanan

Hair, skin tone, skin color, the structure of your face, the formation of your eyelashes, the contours of your eyes, the curve of your lips – all these form the core pillars of a beautiful face. Yet, these are only some visual aspects of our beauty.

Beyond all these, the core of our beauty lies in our minds and thoughts.

A point being proven so right by the model cum actress Sonali Bendre.

Fighting a stage four cancer growing in her body and undergoing treatment in New York, she is one spirited woman who is not allowing this to dampen her spirits. She lives her life with an élan and has been an inspiration to many through her Instagram posts.

As her favourite author, Isabel Allende, whom she also quoted in one of her posts, says ‘We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome.‘

Let us take a look, through pictures, at how she has decided to take this devastating disease head on without losing her sense of beauty and rather focussing on her inner beauty – what she so aptly calls ‘switching on her sunshine!’

The first thing that gets the brunt of this disease, is the hair. Since hair loss is an expected side effect, folks undergoing treatment are recommended to cut it short right in the beginning. For any woman it is a trauma, more so for someone who is in the fashion and modelling industry. Yet – it never fazed her and she did with a smile on her face.

Next – after a few rounds of treatment, the hair actually says goodbye, and it takes an immense amount of courage to step out and socialise with your friends and family. Invariably, folks go into a cocoon not wanting to meet anyone. Yet again – she did it. Not only that, she carried her new hairstyle with an élan that only few can beat.

To all of us, looking good is important, but to an actress and a model, it is an absolute necessity.

In her own words, she says ‘The way we look has a profound psychological impact on us. A little vanity here and there does no one any harm. It’s important to do what makes you happy, even if it’s something as simple as wearing a wig, bright red lipstick, high heels. All that white noise doesn’t make a difference in the larger picture. No one can tell you what’s right or wrong for you. When I was testing out the wigs, I had a brief moment of self-doubt. Am I vain for wanting to look good? As part of the entertainment industry, you’re always expected to look good.

Maybe that has been ingrained in me? But then I gave it a thought and I realized I like looking good for me. If I’m in the mood to wear a scarf, I will. If I want to walk around bald and free, I will. Only you know what would make you feel good, and what works best for you. So take every opportunity you can to #SwitchOnTheSunshine.’

Her friends and family seem to be a great sense of support for her. And while she goes through this painful phase of life, she also realises that feeding her soul through books, music and of course love is what is going to sail her through. She runs a book club on FB #SonalisBookClub and her friends stepped in and conducted a session on the occasion of Friendship Day. More recently, last week, her young son Ranvir stepped into her shoes and actually conducted a live session for #SBCLilOnes.

Eyra salutes her spirit and the attitude with which she has embraced her challenges and is taking life head on!

Keep at it – Sunshine Girl! There are so many of us learning from you…