// Blaze by Nidhi Poddar

I have lost many relatives to cancer, one of them being my closest aunt. Although I did not get to witness their journey from up-close, I do know how many hurdles one has to cross to beat the disease. Blaze by Nidhi Poddar is an in-depth read about how this intimidating disease can impact not just the affected person but also an entire family. But this is also a tribute to her son Divyansh, who was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age. It becomes abundantly clear that Divyansh was a kind and intelligent boy, one who was mature beyond his years. He had a certain intellectual understanding that even adults fail to possess. Sometimes life plays an unfair card. Divyansh was unfortuantely dealt with one.

This memoir is intense, tearing at our hearts because it is written by a mother. As she walks us through their journey, we learn a lot about Divyansh. His determination to study even while being treated, assuring his parents that everything will ultimately be alright while being injected with chemo, writing stellar poems that portrayed his outlook towards the world; all this while battling the disease was so inspiring to read. This memoir is as much about the parents as it is about Divyansh. Their resilience, undying faith and strength moved me. You feel an underlying sense of grief throughout the book; grief of parents having to watch their child in pain. In terms of medical education, this book is fairly informative, giving us a closer look at how the treatments work. The timeline was however very unevenly mentioned, dates and years thrown in together making things somewhat unclear.

Blaze isn't something that I'd recommend to everyone but those who wish to read about unwavering courage can very well draw some inspiration from the book. At the end of the memoir are poems written by Divyansh. These are absolutely wonderful.

Thank you for the copy @rupa_publications