A Question Of Efficiency

The success of CRISPR in treating cancer remains an idea too good to be real, say experts.

- Pooja Biraia Jaiswal

AT 62, KUSUM PODAR moves to 'London Thumakda', her favourite dance number, with the joyful abandon of a child. She loves dressing up, spends her afternoons in the company of friends playing poker and her evenings singing and dancing to devotional songs. Very recently, she appointed a music teacher to come home every week and teach her Indian classical music. On the face of it, Podar is a happy granny with an infectious energy, living by herself in a 1,000sqft apartment in Mumbai. Her siblings and her daughter's family visit her a few times a week.

However, upon a closer look, her frailties are evident. A breast cancer survivor, Podar lives in the constant fear of a relapse. Six years ago, she was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, and every time she looks in the mirror, she is reminded of those harrowing days when her hair fell in chunks and her skin colour turned charcoal black, making her unrecognisable even to herself.