Inspiring Neerja Malik on Ways to Calm a Disturbed Mind . Cancer . Interview . Motivation

Inspiring Neerja Malik on Ways to Calm a Disturbed Mind 
Cancer I Interview I Motivation



                     

Published on Jan 28, 2017

Two-time breast cancer conqueror Neerja Malik has embarked on a journey to inspire YOU ! 

She shares some pearls of wisdom to motivate cancer patients on how to courageously conquer cancer. 

Change maker Neerja Malik is an author, cancer counselor, motivational speaker.

Neerja Malik - A Two Times Cancer Conqueror's Inspiring Tale

'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.’   

Behind Neerja Malik’s radiant smile there are many tales to be told.  Little would you know that her beautiful smile conceals tales of tragedy- complications, miscarriages and cancer. Every episode of Neerja’s life has transformed her into a stellar woman, who evokes immense respect and emotions in the hearts of all. Today she wears many hats - an author, cancer counselor, motivational speaker and a Changemaker!

In Februray 1998, Neerja Malik was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Force had been kind to grant her another life even when the best medical experts claimed that she had only 25% chance of survival. Once again, in 2004, life challenged her with cancer. Strong medicines were prescribed and aggressive treatment was provided to help Neerja conquer the second cancer attack. The treatment succeeded in exhausting her physical energy but not her psychological resilience. It’s said that a true warrior perseveres till the end. Neerja courageously faced cancer and conquered it victoriously. 

By age Neerja is 62 years but I bet, at heart she’s young as 18. You can’t blame yourself if you fall in love with her vivacious personality! Being high-spirited by nature, Neerja always succeeds in giving hope even to the hopeless. What’s the secret behind her beautiful smile? Neerja replies, “Happiness and joy”

Neejra Malik (Author-I Inspire) talks to Aishwaraya Kalro (Social Pukar,Co-Founder). 

Here are her takes on life, cancer and love. Some serious and some humorous!

On Perseverance

Neerja admits-

“Challenges may come my way. But, there is always something that falls into my hand. Means that this is not the end, it’s just a bend!” 

Flash back to 2004. Once again, Neerja was diagnosed with breast cancer! This time instead of fretting over the unfair rules of life she accepted the bitter fact like a mature adult and entered the battle of life, with a cool-head. All her friends mulled over the news with agony. But Neerja maintained her composure and reassured her friends, “If I could conquer it once, I can do it again!” True to her words she did it again!  

On Positive Thinking

Change your mindset, change your life. Neerja inspires others with her buoyant outlook-

 “I never concentrated on the fact that I had no energy. Rather than seeing the actual chaos, I’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Neerja Malik is an optimist who strongly believes in the power of positive thinking. Forty days after the birth of her twins, Neerja was down with high fever. To be precise - 105 degrees! No natural remedies worked. Her health became critical to the extent that her doting mom and sister constantly slapped her face to stop her from falling asleep. Else, she would have slipped into coma. During this painful phase, Neerja used positive affirmations which kept her going.  Temperature and drama, both were high! A teary-eyed Punjabi mother told Neerja, “You can’t go away now your twins are so young.”  Like a mantra Neerja kept reciting the lines-  ‘I’m not the body, I’m the soul and the soul feels nothing’. Her mother thought Neerja was delivering her farewell speech!

On Love and Distance 

Distance means so little, when someone means so much.

Neerja Malik confesses-

“People who are away, suffer much more.”

She jokingly says, “My poor husband has empowered me, mostly by remote control!” Mandeep  (husband) has been her pillar of strength who managed everything in Chennai very well. Neerja has been blessed with supportive in-laws and parents (Kamla & Benoy Bhushan) who went great lengths during the darkest hours of the day.

On Helping Cancer Patients

No one can question Neerja’s  zeal  when it comes to counseling cancer patients. She cheerfully says, “The more I do for my patients, the happier I am!” She adds-

“It’s not that I meet patients because I give them joy. It’s that meeting and helping them gives me joy!”

On Spirituality and God

In spite of all the challenges life has thrown at her and the tragic moments she has witnessed, God-loving Neerja always praises, “God is great!” In fact, she believes it is the spiritual power that helped her sail through the turbulent times.

Our Social Call

Neerja Malik is a woman with a golden heart. She’s a changemaker who has embarked on a journey to inspire you! ‘In three words I can sum everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.’   

Be Like Neerja...

                       

Published on Jan 26, 2017

This is a Breast Cancer awareness PSA we shot with the amazing Neerja Malik in October 2016. This is one of our most personal projects yet, something very very close to heart, and we hope you love it as much as we loved working on this.

Watch, like, share with your friends and spread the word about early detection. Remember, cancer is conquerable.

Gratitude is the Password to Happiness says Neerja Malik

When you finish meeting Neerja Malik, you feel like you have just stepped off a trampoline – you are left feeling so buoyant in spirit, well, from laughing! You feel you have met a bhangra dancer, a Sumo wrestler, a stand-up comic and a six-year-old — all at once — that’s so much energy her mere presence injects in you! 

Here is someone who has seen many storms in her life — broken bones, multiple miscarriages, a still-born baby after yet another prolonged conception process and two episodes of breast cancer within six years of each other! Anyone else may have crumbled. But Neerja is different! She’s happy facing her life, no matter what comes her way!   

   

Here’s a peek into her uncommon joie de vivre. “You know the best thing about having chemo(therapy)? No parlour visits – aha! Because no hair, you see! That’s happiness to me!” she says. 

Cancer, Neerja says, has to be faced, not feared. “No matter what, the treatment process has to be undergone – even if it means dealing with pain, chemo, hair-loss and uncertainty!” she explains. So, for 18 years now, she’s been encouraging people to face cancer, treating it as ‘work’; this is also why she wrote I Inspire in 2015. “My greatest joy is being able to touch lives and to inspire people to never give up,” she says. 

Neerja believes that if you keep thinking of life as a war where you have to soldier on, you will end up, at some point, feeling battle-weary. She encourages us to see life the way her father has taught her to. She says,“On the day I was leaving for my first chemo session, he said, ‘ Beta , don’t fight life. You can never win that fight. Instead, face it.’ I took that advice to heart. No situation scares me anymore!”

Neerja has 26-year-old twins, Shivani and Sidharth, and this Christmas marks the 38th anniversary of her marriage with Mandeep. She feels her entire life is a miracle! “Har Waqt Shukran (Be grateful in each moment) – this is Neerja’s mantra. She vows that gratitude is the password to happiness! Her parting line, as she hugs me tight, sums up her spirit, “ Hameysha Khush Raho! Mein Khush! Ranga Khush! Mogambo Khush! Sab Log Khush (This is a variation of a Punjabi saying and basically means — Always be happy! For it really, really, pays to be happy!” 

-- DTNext article by Avis Viswanathan. The writer is a life coach, happiness curator and author of Fall Like A Rose Petal. You can reach him through his blog avisviswanathan.wordpress.com

When happiness beat cancer

         

     DNA CORRESPONDENT | Mon, 19 Dec 2016-08:05am , DNA

Neerja Malik, who was a primary teacher in Mumbai, shared with 
Humans of Bombay that her secret to battling cancer on two occasions is a positive attitude

Neerja Malik, a Mumbai-based primary school teacher is an inspiration for all of us, who feel that life isn't fair. Malik, a two-time survivor of breast cancer, recently told Humans of Bombay that the secret behind her surviving both times was taking it in her stride and having a positive attitude.

"I've lived a great life with ups and downs – much like everyone else. Life is ironical at times. As a primary school teacher, I was always surrounded by children, but after marriage I had several miscarriages and then delivered a stillborn. It was the toughest phase of my life, but I finally eventually gave birth to twins – both were premature, but now are healthy and happy children," she said.

Life was normal for Malik after that until 1998 when during an aerobics class, she felt a pain in her breast. Initially, she thought it was a muscle pull and shrugged off. "A few days later, I felt two lumps and realised it wasn't any pain. I rushed to the doctor and got my tests done. I tested positive for breast cancer and had to almost immediately get surgery," she said.

After surgery, while going home, Malik gave a fist pump to her husband and assured him that they would be okay even though the doctor had just told her that she had 25 per cent chances of survival. "Through this whole time, I didn't once ask, 'why me?' — I didn't indulge in any form of self pity. My whole life focus shifted from being sad to becoming a fighter. There were days that I cried, but for every tear I shed I fought harder. I forced myself to laugh, to distract my mind and enable myself — very often I would fight with the hospital staff if they tried to help me go to the loo…even though I would fall on the way I made sure I did it on my own," she recalls

Through her positive attitude, Malik beat cancer, but had a relapse once again in 2004. "I underwent multiple chemo sessions and lost all my hair but I distinctly remember not giving it too much energy, she recalls.

During this period, Malik lost the hair from her eyebrows, but instead of fretting, she painted her eyebrows with a brown pencil. Her nails, too, had turned black, so she would paint them a new colour everyday to make herself feel happy. "I would experiment with different wigs and love my look…there were times when I went out completely bald and people asked me if I had just visited Tirupathi and I would play along! My whole life became about being happy no matter what my situation and the fundamental rule of life is — a disease cannot exist in a body that has positive energy. I beat cancer, again and this time I came back with a thumping victory. I began to counsel cancer patients ever since, because for me defeating it twice wasn't enough— I wanted to defeat it as many times as I possibly can," she said.

Now, Malik feels she can ask 'Why me?' because she has the answer. "Because I'm strong enough to handle anything that life throws at me…and because I already have!" she says.

Neerja Malik's Talk at PROJECT MYTHRI.

                           

                           Published on Nov 21, 2016

                           How she faced and conquered Cancer twice ...

Let's Talk with Vinay I DRA Homes I Chennai Edition I Ep 6 I Neerja Mali...

     
  Let's Talk with Vinay                                              Neerja Malik
             



                        

Published on Aug 20, 2016

Let's Talk with Vinay - Chennai Edition is with a real life hero. Life threw cancer at her, not once, but twice. She accepted it, faced it, conquered it.. all with a smile. After conquering, she has donned many hats - Author, Cancer Counsellor & Inspirational Speaker. Neerja Malik, speaks about her journey, life after cancer, aspirations and much more in this candid conversation with the host Vinay Bharadwaj.