Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor walks the ramp at fashion show Falak Ki Jhalak, organised in aid of the Tata Medical Center on April 3

Cancer survivor Koel Datta’s parents and brother

There was palpable excitement behind the ramp created at the Taj Bengal, for “Falak Ki Jhalak”, in aid of Tata Medical Center in Calcutta. Images from Raja Deen Dayal’s incredible black-and-white photography created a backdrop that conjured up imagery of 19th-century Hyderabad.

Designer Anamika Khanna on the verge of creating a fashion experience never seen before, appeared like an apparition in a contemporary rendition of the Khara-dupatta. Sonam Kapoor looked stunning floating in a gold Anamika ensemble.

Models in their hatkey Hyderabadi libaaz chattered animatedly while the backstage manager tried to calm them down with minutes to go before the show commenced.

Seated quietly on a chair amidst the cacophony of voices was a diva in a red gown with sequins she had picked up for the occasion. Hair up in clips, eyes lined with kohl, Koel Datta made her own quiet fashion statement.

A far cry from the sad eyes of the girl with a mask and without a strand of hair on her head who I had met on her last day of discharge from the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai over two years ago.

She was free of cancer and cured of leukaemia.

At that first meeting, with the family’s permission, we took a few shots of Koel, captured her story and laid it on a Lopamudra Mitra song track.

Rendered as a three-minute film to spread awareness about the Tata Medical Center and stressing the need for people to come and reach out, it touched the hearts of thousands. Donations poured in.

When we went to Malda, her hometown, to get permission to release a one-minute version of the film on selective news channels, the family wanted nothing in return. Koel’s mother Babli knew the agony of leaving behind a husband with lung cancer, a son who had to miss school to accompany her to Mumbai and the drain on family finances. Helping thousands of Koels fight cancer at the Tata Medical Center, they said, would be their greatest reward.

Seven thousand Indians all over the country sent a text message each after seeing the film, making Koel a true Indian Idol.

It is she who made a clerk from Kochi call to ask if he could send a cheque for a hundred rupees towards the much-needed expansion of the hospital.

It is she who moved a leading stock market investor in Mumbai to write a cheque for a crore of rupees requesting anonymity.

It is indeed Koel who moved Shah Rukh Khan to say, “I have lost parents to cancer. I will do anything to help the underprivileged fight this dreadful enemy”, and agree to release a campaign, ‘My name is Khan & help me if you Khan’, to garner support for the hospital expansion.

It is Koel who made Aparna Sen quietly and without fuss send Tata Medical Center a cheque for Rs 10,000 towards 10 bricks for the expansion.

An aged senior citizen in Calcutta trudged to an ICICI bank where he thought he would buy a brick he had saved Rs 1,000 for.

When Anshu Saharia, volunteering for the Tata Medical Center, invited heads and prefects of some of Calcutta’s schools, the response was overwhelming.

Sathakshi Keyal called her father and made him agree to pledge a lakh for the cause.

Aditya Kapur said he would like to make an awareness film on the hospital with his pocket money saved over the years.

A group of children said they would go to municipal schools in and around Calcutta with a presentation on cancer awareness and about the Center, a beacon of hope to cancer patients in eastern India.

Back to the recent fundraiser, when Anamika Khanna gathered her kaarigars to explain the significance of her labour of love for the hospital, they spontaneously pulled out whatever money they had and gave this very special envelope to the hospital.

At the Tata Medical Center, Anup Kanodia, who had volunteered his team to take fresh pictures of Koel’s family, made his photographer race to pick up a camera for Koel and enthused her to take up photography as a hobby.

Our fundraising milestones are not the quantum of money pouring in for the cause but simple, heart-warming stories like these.

Koel Datta walked the ramp, albeit a few steps, to take a bow.

For all involved with the Tata Medical Center, Koel as the face of the fundraising campaign is the greatest model of our times. A role model for so many fighting the battle against cancer.

Do you have a cancer survivor’s story to share ? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com