Meet Zeenath PA, the Kochi social worker whose handmade wigs are helping Cancer survivors reclaim their identity.
Reshma Nair (name changed) woke up one morning and felt a lump in her breast.
When the doctor examined her, he confirmed her worst fears. She had breast cancer. She embarked on a course of chemotherapy.
Finally, it was decided to remove her breasts. When her husband came to know, he split up with her and moved on to another woman. The couple had two small children.
Reshma recovered, but when her hair grew back, it turned out to be grey. At 29 years of age, this came as a shock.
When Reshma returned to the hospital where she worked as a nurse, her superior said, 'We like our nurses to be beautiful young women.'
A shocked Reshma resigned and fell into a deep depression. She did not know what to do. At her lowest point, Reshma heard about Zeenath PA, a social worker who provided wigs for women who went bald because of chemotherapy.
When Zeenath came to Reshma's house, with her wigs, she realised she needed to shave off all the grey hair.
After using a trimmer, when the wig was placed on Reshma's head, she looked beautiful. "A big smile broke out on Reshma's face when she looked at herself in the mirror," recalls Zeenath.
She looked at Zeenath and said, 'Now I am back to normal.'
Within a few weeks, Reshma got a job at another hospital and the household was humming again.
The idea of providing wigs came to Zeenath by accident. She would counsel patients at the cancer ward at the Government General Hospital in Kochi.
The women told her that they didn't have a problem with having cancer, but because of chemotherapy they had lost all their hair.
One woman said, 'When we go home, our neighbours and our family members look at us with a little bit of fear. Many of them don't know how to react to us, especially the grandchildren who are very scared to come close to us. Husbands also feel disappointed that we have lost all our hair.'
That was how Zeenath got the idea to provide wigs. When she did a few inquiries, she came to know that there was a wig-making unit at the Amala Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) in Thrissur.
She met with the Joint Director, Father Jaison Mundanmani, who agreed to provide wigs. On her own accord, she decided to collect hair to help in the cause.
So, Zeenath embarked on a campaign. She spoke at schools, colleges, and places of worship. She said, 'See, you are taking your hair for granted, but if you can share a part of it, somebody's life will be completely changed.'
And over time, people began to respond.
To her surprise, most of the contributors were young men. Many of them had long hair, because during COVID-19, there were no barbers around. They allowed their hair to grow long.
Once she met Arjun, a 22 year old who lived in Fort Kochi. "When I saw that he had long hair, I said, 'Don't go to the barber and get the hair cut and just throw it away'. Instead, you can give it to me. I can make good use of it."
Arjun immediately said, 'Chechi (elder sister), I will give it to you.'
So Zeenath herself cut the hair, took a photograph and used it as her WhatsApp status. "This had a lot of impact," she remembers.
Another reason was that many contributors had someone in their family who had been afflicted with cancer. "So they know the pain of losing one's hair," says Zeenath.
One physically challenged man told Zeenath, 'I cannot give my eyes, lungs or heart or money since I am poor. But it costs nothing to give my hair. I know it will grow again.'
Zeenath needs a minimum of 30 cm of length. Three batches of hair are needed to make one wig. "Not everybody has thick hair," she says.
Zeenath is looking for natural black hair. The problem with coloured hair is that when it is washed, it turns white. And no woman wants a wig with white hair.
Every night, Zeenath washes the hair with shampoo and hangs it out in the courtyard to dry.
A few weeks ago, Zeenath held a camp in Cheranalloor, where twenty men volunteered to donate their hair.
As Zeenath has become better known, she gets calls from Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Kollam and Kottayam districts informing her that they would want to contribute. A day before I met her, a lady dentist from Aluva donated a portion of her hair.
But women are not easy contributors. "Those who are unmarried are reluctant to give because they are still in the marriage market and want to look beautiful with lustrous long hair," says Zeenath.
"Those who give are usually married women with children. But sometimes, they need the permission of their husbands. Many of their husbands like their wives to have long hair. So they are unwilling to give their hair unless the husband gives his consent."
Sometimes, a donation can backfire on the contributor. Priya, 35, had very long hair. Her husband admired it. Tragically, he died of late-stage cancer.
A dejected Priya lost the incentive to keep her hair long. She donated it to Zeenath. But in the conservative neighbourhood that she lived in, people began gossiping.
They said, 'It seems she was waiting for her husband to die before she could cut her hair and style herself like a model.'
That was very painful for Priya to hear.
Like Priya, Zeenath has also experienced painful moments. She has provided wigs for terminal patients. "Many of them wore wigs for a few months before they passed away," she says. "But they told me they were happy that for a while, they could pretend their lives had returned to normal."
But there were many joyful moments, too. She says her thrill is to see the look of ecstasy on the face of the woman when she placed the wig on her head for the first time.
Until then, many of the women would not go out at all. They would become recluses.
Zeenath remembers Saraswati whose husband was run over by a truck and died instantly.
For the next twenty years, Saraswati struggled so that she could provide an education for her daughter Annapurna.
When Annapurna grew up and was about to get married, Saraswati got cancer. She was cured but she ended up becoming bald.
Saraswati told Annapurna she would not be able to attend the marriage.
Annapurna was shocked.
'What are you saying Amma?'
Saraswati said, 'I cannot show my bald head in public.'
'You are the most important person to me,' said Annapurna.
Despite her daughter's entreaties, Saraswati was adamant.
Through a close friend, Annapurna heard about Zeenath.
Zeenath came to the house and fitted the wig. A proud Saraswati took part in all the celebrations.
Zeenath was also invited and at the reception Saraswati held her hands and told Zeenath, 'I will never forget what you have done for me.'
Meanwhile, Zeenath has been taken aback by the varied reactions to cancer. Some accept it as the will of God, while others react angrily.
One woman told Zeenath, 'If there was a God, He would not have made me go through so much pain and suffering. God is very cold. I have prayed so many times to God, but he has not even cared for or looked after me.'
Another woman said, 'Is there somebody called God? In my experience, there is no God.'
Sometimes, the neighbours of the afflicted woman tell Zeenath, 'She deserves it. She has behaved very badly with us so God has punished her.'
Zeenath would say, 'Please don't talk like this. Nobody knows why you get ill. Sometimes it is because of genes. The mother might have the cancer gene and the children are likely to get it too.
Thus far, Zeenath has received hair from about 6,000 people. The wigs that are made are given free of cost.
She bears the cost of cleaning them, and is helped sometimes by her two sons and a daughter-in-law.
For her work, she has received numerous awards from charitable trusts, including the Aluva-based Sahrudaya Sangeetha Karunya Vedi and AIMS.
No matter her ups and downs, Zeenath says, "I know the work I do is going to transform lives. Every time I see a woman smile when she looks at herself in the mirror, I feel a surge of energy inside me. It makes me feel good."
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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