![]() ![]() ![]() She did what most people in her position would not do, and that’s kudos to her.Īnisha’s grandma was centre stage Breaking the shameĪs I don’t have a stoma of my own, I am not in a position to give advice. However, the best part was seeing the glow on my grandma’s face as she was celebrated by the Association for being one of the first people to speak up and show their ostomy in a film. ![]() For me, the feeling of 5 years of research and hard work culminating in this one point was beyond words. With the assistance of the Ostomy Association of India, we invited many ostomates for a special screening at TATA Hospital in Mumbai. My film, No More Secrets, was released in January 2018. Many of them devoted much of their own time and energy to talking and counselling new ostomates into life with a stoma. As I got to know each one of them as individuals, I was filled with amazement at their stories and the challenges that they had had to overcome.Įach of their journeys was unique, but the one thing that brought them all together was a desire to help others like themselves. However, once I explained that I was making a film to help my grandma and people like her, one by one, the ostomates I spoke to began to welcome me. The ostomy community in India is very tight knit, and, initially, it was hard for me to earn their trust. I believe that, if you want to help a community, first you must understand the problems that the people in that community face. In the end, I spent 5 years researching a project that took just 10 days to shoot. I am a filmmaker, but it took me a while to be sure of how to go about doing this. The Ostomy Association of India invited ostomates to a launch screening in Mumbai Getting startedĪfter my experience with my grandmother, I knew I wanted to create something that will raise awareness about people with an ostomy in India. This is very harmful, as it prevents people with a stoma from rehabilitating into their new life. They often refuse to talk about their problems and instead imprison themselves behind walls of shame. Despite this, many Indian ostomates feel there is a stigma on them. However, there are now many ostomates who are working tirelessly to ensure that people like them are seen by the government and by healthcare providers. In India, ostomies are still not widely spoken about. It made me wonder, if there were so many ostomates, why nobody was talking about it. ![]() And these are only the ones who registered. I spoke to the people at the Ostomy Association of India and found out that more than 300,000 people (or three lakhs, as we say) are living with a stoma in India. How was my grandma supposed to be able to relate to any of these people? I came across a few YouTube channels and plenty of people who had come out and spoken about their ostomies, but none of them were from India. So, I began researching online for others who have an ostomy. Poster for No More Secrets Doing the research If we tried to console her, she would lash out, saying ‘You don’t have it, so you don’t understand!’. She found it difficult to accept her new reality and started going into depression. Once the surgery was done, my grandma had to live with it. The doctor explained it to us the best way he could, but all we could hear was that it would save her life, and we were completely onboard with it. None of us had heard of an ostomy before. As we were trying to wrap our minds around this, we were informed that she would need an ostomy surgery to save her life. Watch No More Secrets Grandma’s diagnosisīack in 2012, my grandma was diagnosed with rectal cancer. It was my grandma who introduced me to the experience of having an ostomy in India. Although I have made a film about life with an ostomy, I do not have one myself. ![]()
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