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The C-word is something that author and life coach, Neelam Kumar is all too familiar with. A two-time cancer survivor, she, went on to pen a humourous book on the disease last September, titled To Cancer, With Love &mdash; My Journey of Joy. It was a moving, yet hilarious account of her ordeal. Six months on, she is back with a sequel in the form of a graphic novel, Victim to Victor &mdash; My Journey Through Cancer, India&rsquo;s first graphic novel on the disease.
<img title="Victim to Victor &mdash; My Journey Through Cancer, India&rsquo;s first graphic novel on the disease" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/mar/comic-images-2.jpg" alt="Victim to Victor &mdash; My Journey Through Cancer, India&rsquo;s first graphic novel on the disease" /> Victim to Victor &mdash; My Journey Through Cancer, India&rsquo;s first graphic novel on the disease
&ldquo;I did not set out to write a graphic novel, it happened serendipitously,&rdquo; says the Andheri resident who has authored five books including, I, A Woman and Our Favourite Indian Stories which she co-authored with Khushwant Singh. The 57-year-old who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996, which relapsed in 2013, adds, &ldquo;After my book got published, many survivors from the UK and USA wrote to me saying a comic-book format would have been easier to read. I understood what they meant. It can be taxing to read an entire book while undergoing radiation therapy,&rdquo; says Kumar. But, she admits, she is no artist. &ldquo;I can write, but drawing is certainly not my forte.&rdquo; So, the artwork is handled by Canadian animation company Moovix.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/mar/neelam-kumar.jpg" alt="" />
Carol, Kumar&rsquo;s alter ego who keeps her going, makes a comeback. Carol, she says is a witty, spunky, care-a damn, ageless girl &ldquo;who taught me how much fun life could be if handled with positivity and humour&rdquo;. She is somebody, Kumar says, who she eventually transformed into when she made up her mind to accept joy, and ensure her life became worthy of emulation.
&ldquo;While writing the book, I picked up some best-selling classics to cheer myself up. To my horror, in The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, the hero dies; in Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, the hero dies; in Grace and Grit, by Ken Wilber, the heroine dies. So, I wanted to become that one person who stood up and said, &lsquo;Look! I handled two cancers and I&rsquo;m alive!&rsquo;&rdquo;
While internationally, comic books, like Terminally Illin&rsquo; by cancer survivor Kaylin Andres and Jon Solo, have been widely popular, Kumar says she did not refer to them. &ldquo;I did not want to colour my perception by reading what others had written. It was about my story, which I wanted to share with countless others.&rdquo;
Preparation and research meant condensing a 208-page novel into a 50-pager graphic novel. &ldquo;I had to make my writing crisper while retaining the punch and humour.&rdquo; The tone is happier, full of hope and courage. &ldquo;I had lost my long hair, my eyebrows; I was stripped of all my feminine vanity. Unbelievably, I found this situation hilarious. I looked like an alien, but so what? I could probably audition for a role in a science-fiction movie,&rdquo; she laughs. Such light humour, she says, is what the book is laced with. &ldquo;Cancer is no more a death sentence.
With early detection and lifestyle changes, it is possible to reverse the situation,&rdquo; she says. While her book is a shoutout to all those coping with the disease, she hopes to build awareness even among those who aren&rsquo;t afflicted by it. &ldquo;Due to lack of awareness, a lot of people thought they would catch an infection from me. The book will bust such myths.&rdquo;
But writing a graphic novel means investing close to R13 lakh in the project, which for Kumar is beyond her means. &ldquo;This is why I have pitched it as a crowd-funded initiative,&rdquo; she says. Kumar needs to generate the amount within 50 days if the book must launch.

Author Neelam Kumar brings back her spirited alter-ego in a graphic novel that discusses the ordeal of the disease

Carol against cancer

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Author Neelam Kumar brings back her spirited alter-ego in a graphic novel that discusses the ordeal of the disease

Carol against cancer

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Carol against cancer

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